People in MA are pretty much the same; even now, a lot of houses are built without central air, which I feel is ridiculous. It's hot and humid here on and off for a lot of the summer. It's impossible to cook or sleep comfortably when it's 85-95 and humid for a week! I know a lot of people think I'm a wimp, but after living in places where everything is climate controlled, I like being comfortable. In 1990, it wasn't easy to find a house in our price range that had central air.
The difference I see is that people here keep their AC on ridiculously low temperatures, as do stores. It is not necessary to keep AC at 68! We keep our house at 76-78 when the AC is on. Yet, some of my friends think my house feels hot. When I lived in AZ, we kept our AC set on 82, because when it's 112 out , 82 feels cool. It's all relative, but I couldn't live without AC.