>As a California native, I've always wondered how people live where they live. >Phoenix. Buffalo. Minnesota. Las Vegas. > >Like...why did people CHOOSE to live there?

You can say that about anywhere though. Parts of the west coast have have wild fires, volcanoes, droughts, earthquakes. And just for the states in general, you also have tornados, hurricanes, blizzards. There's freezing temps, really hot temps, high humidity. Some areas have more dangerous wildlife. Each area has it's pros and cons, so I thinks it's just a case of people learning to adapt to the cons to have access to the pros.

For a historic point of view about why people would live in the Buffalo/Niagara region... the Great Lakes and the Erie Canal.