AHC: Switch popular perception of US East, West coasts

In the OTL USA, the West Coast is seen as the happy-go-lucky, less restrained part of the county, while the East Coast is seen as paranoid, pessimistic, business-minded, and bureaucratic (as an East Coaster myself, I can testify to that).

Your challenge is to switch those perceptions such that the East Coast is the less reserved coast while the West Coast is seen as the stuffy coast.
 
Having China colonize the Americas seems like the most straightforward way, though it does require a pre-1900 POD.
 
Simple. Spread Orange County-style conservatism over the West Coast.
Add in Goldwater's remark about cutting off the Eastern Seaboard...
 
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