Snowbound in Seattle

So having grown up in the Chicago area, I can't get over the difference in reaction to snow between Chicago and Seattle. My high school had a reputation for never closing no matter how much snow came down. During my four years there, we only had one snow day, and the only reason they closed school that day was that the district had just purchased this fancy robocall system that could call all of the parents with a prerecorded message, and so they were just looking for an excuse to try it out.

Contrast this with Seattle. The forecast called for a couple inches of snow today. So the Seattle schools were closed. As it turns out, it didn't snow at all in Seattle (outlying areas did get snow). Now that the forecast calls for up to three inches (oh, the humanity!), a bunch of other districts have already cancelled classes, and the verdict is still out on the Seattle schools. Tonight on the news they had footage of cars and buses (with tire chains, even) getting stuck in the snow. A lot of people at work live out in North Bend or Duvall and so don't bother coming to work if there's a hint of snow because they're liable to end up in a pileup at the bottom of a hill.

It's one thing for say, Houston to shut down when it gets an inch of snow. But from what I have seen, this isn't exactly a rare occurence. I don't comprehend why there seems to be such a dearth of snow removal infrastructure in the Puget Sound Region.