Cheap housing, right next to the border, decent amount of finance sector and manufacturing jobs.

Buffalo native here. Wasn't around back in '77 but I absolutely remember Snowvember 2014, and even though we had to bring in the National Guard with bucket loaders because plows couldn't cut through six feet of snow, people were just out and about the moment they could get out of their driveway. We've dealt with snow, and so many people that I know figured this was just gonna be another snowstorm.

The real killer was the cold, but more specifically, it was the wind. We don't regularly get 60mph winds even during storms, and wind chill that intense is a whole different kind of cold. Normally I'm sweating by the time I finish snowblowing when I wear boots, snow pants, and a jacket over shorts and a t-shirt; this time around, had to add flannel pajamas and a hoodie to the rest and I still had to take a break halfway through to warm up. So many other people felt the same way, until they got out and the wind was just sapping heat like nobody's business and blowing snow almost completely horizontal.