10-4. In that case it's a perfect example of your point. In a coastal environment, material choices are a huge consideration. Move inland to a desert and other issues will take priority.
I think one of the unacknowledged challenges with center-fed panels is that some of the existing equipment is just old. While center-fed panels aren't common in Austin, TX like they are in parts of CA, we'd run into them from time to time. In every case I can think of, the equipment was decades old. If I was an engineer or an inspector, I wouldn't have any confidence approving modifications to that existing equipment.
We upgraded a lot of service equipment that would have been a-okay for decades if left alone. But sometimes if you want to modify something, the more responsible thing to do is to upgrade it. That's the kind of judgement call that an AHJ needs to make, because the Code can't do so.
The real benefit of the revised language in NEC 2014 RE: center-fed panels is that it allows for a PE to take liability off of the AHJ, which may allow for more installations without equipment upgrades. This language has probably been quoted in this thread already; if not here it is:
(d) Connections shall be permitted on multiple-ampacity busbars or center-fed panelboards where designed under engineering supervision that includes fault studies and busbar load calculations.
