Maybe it's an East/West coast thing.

It is!

Some of our local builders actually have models that they refer to, often just
internally, as the E Coast or W Coast package.

The E Coast packages accent AC, so they typically use reverse cycle heating and
cooling and need big AC generators.

The W Coast boats almost never use AC, at least not north of some point in CA,
and
it's not uncommon to see new boats selling for $1mm or more around here without
any AC at all.