Yeah, and it's understandable why they would say that. Realistically the only places people care about in California are Los Angeles and San Francisco (and to some extent Sacramento and San Diego), and compared to LA, SF is definitely north. Culturally and politically, though, north of Sacramento is quite different from SF. I mean, you see lots of signs supporting the formation of Jefferson State (and seceding from CA). I've had California natives talk about how SF wasn't really northern CA. And geographically, it actually is kind of mid (on the northern end of mid, but still).