I grew up in Northern California, as in one county away from the Oregon border, and was confused by a child when people referred to the Sacramento and San Francisco areas as "Northern California" since we had to drive several long hours south to get there.

When I was growing up in South Florida (which does not include any of Florida's Gulf Coast no matter its latitude) in the very old days, they came out with a John Wayne movie called "North to Alaska" which had a catchy soundtrack.

For us it was always "North to Orlando" :)

There is a spectrum and it isn't just a east coast thing.

I think you can basically divide it out where the primary crop is wheat vs. corn/soybeans, and where the crop irrigation starts. As you drive from east to west, you can feel exactly where this line occurs.

People move around a lot - and let me tell you about what actual western residents like old CO front range and Montana residents think about SV California people moving in. But there is a bell curve-type shape as you move west of a certain kind of individualism, which tails off in central CA. You don't have to get much east beyond SF/Mountain View to get to the "real west".