Here on the lake, we got six to eight inches from that storm. We generally get only the fringe of the nor'easters. (Although the one today seems to be straying west more than usual.) In R-Town, six to eight inches is the sort of thing we get every week to 10 days through out the winter, so it's something the DPW crews are used to dealing with. It's just par for the course.
Sounds like your ability to bike through the winter depends largely on the city's keeping the streets clear. Same thing here... generally my neighborhood has well-plowed streets, so I can get to the grocery store. And as a general rule, the city keep a good network of "snow routes". Only problem with the latest blizzard is that the city's pre-storm salting did not fully take care of ice build-up.
That and the fact that the last two winters have been pretty mild... and I'm finding it difficult to adjust.