This blog charts the number of times the Federal government has closed in the last 10 years and the amount of snow fall received at one weather station in city limits.
The 2012-13 season appears to be the one year where the perception might fit but the snow total is only for DC proper. It tends to be lower in DC than the burbs (heat island blah blah blah)
>note: '2 inches' was an exaggeration. the point is i've heard >of DC shutting down over relatively small amounts of snow on a >seemingly regular basis.
The whole perception is an exagerration. THe Federal government has closed 11days due to snow in the last 10 years and 10 of those days happened in years we get 30 and 55 inches of snow, respectively. That much snow may not seem like a lot but we average 10-12 so that's extreme and unlikely for us.
I think any metro area would shut down when they get 3-5 times what they're used to getting and prepared to handle.