Where would you say the dividing line between what is the central coast and southern California is? Is it Santa Barbara? Further south or north?
i used to live in cali,and its generally divided into 4 regions.
northern cali,mostly liberal,some conservative areas,lots of forest,and the states capital.
central cali,this mostly covers the central part of the state,most notable around bakersfield and visalia area.this area alot of people wear cowboy hats and have this southern accents,during the dustbowl it was settled by farmers from texas,which explains why they differn from the rest of the state.
southern cali,mostly conservative,heavy pockets of hispanics and rednecks,lots of cowboys in socal,just not so much accent.socal itself covers many different types of people,from methheads and white supremecists,to rednecks(google fontucky)to mexican farming communities,to mexican gangs,to gay cities(see palm springs).
finally coastal cali,this is the region everyone thinks about when they see cali,but in reality even though it holds most of calis population,itholds the least landmass.california itself is a very rural state,with most its population concentrated at the coast,hence why most people who have been to cali classify the coast as its own region rather than trying to geographically tie it with inland communities which are a 180 off culturally.