I've been reading the other thread and it's given me a few thoughts- I have a bit of a gripe with Skingrad too. I hate how it's slap bang on the road so if you're travelling to Anvil on the road you have to either go through Skingrad or go around it. Plus the centre of Skingrad is too creepy, no-one ever walks down the middle bit and it's really intimidating with those big banks either side of it.
Lots of people hate Leyawiin but that was the home of my very first character and I loved that place, despite the rain.
Spoiler After finding the countess's torture chamber in the basemant my character wondered if she was a little fond of the kinky stuff and started respecting her more.
The only bad thing about Leyawiin is that it's too far away.
When I played my first character I also viewed the waterfront as the arsecrack of the imperial city, but strangely enough, I now love it. I doubt my hate for Cheydinhal and the awful orcs will ever fade however.