That place felt like the center of Cyrodiil, heck, all of Tamriel. Not like Whiterun. You had all the shops under the sun in one, convenient place. Wanted armour? Go to The Best Defense. Want a sword? Slash 'N Smash is your place. Wanna get some new threads? Divine Elegance has what you need. Want to get the best prices for selling your goods? Pop alone and see Thoronir at The Copious Coinpurse. Best prices in all of Cyrodiil. Okay so he got his merchandise from the dead, but at those prices who can argue? Wanna get that one rare book? Yes remember when there were book shops? The First Edition is your number one stop. Edgar's Discount Spells, I lived in that shop. It was the best place to go at early levels for spells. Thirsty after all that shopping? Why not have a pint at the Feedbag?

What has Whiterun got? Ok it has a pretty decent blacksmith. But I'm surprised they're still in business. They just let anyone use their equipment, they don't even charge. Belethor. I cannot put into words how much I hate that greasy bastard. He just looks like he should be on THE list. I just avoid that shop. Arcadia's Cauldron, every time I enter that shop she tells me how ill I look. She's the one who looks like they have Aids. The Drunken Huntsman I like. The brothers are cool. The stalls are okay but I never buy anything from them.

The shops keepers just have no personality compared to the Imperial City. I used to love trading there, but every time I go to Whiterun I just want to leave.

The Imperial City was special for me as well, just loved walking around the streets. Would love to live there IRL or at least get my Dovahkiin a home there.

2 Points.

1. The Imperial City is/was the cultural center of all of Tamriel, so you'd expect to have much more of everything.

2. That being said, Whiterun is supposed to the trading hub of Skyrim, yet there are fewer shops there than most other major hold capitols. There should be small vendors all throughout the city, even outside the guarded walls (not talking about the khajiit, either).

TheIimperial City was awesome. It had like 3 inns, tons of shops, loads of people to chat with, some important, some not. Oh, and did I meantion AN ARENA?

It had everything you ever needed. I was just rambling about trade. Didn't even touch all the other districts. I remember spending 32 (game) days with out leaving the city.

Arena! Whoot! I loved the place, even won a bit of gold betting against my team, yeah they were slop without me.

I actually agree with you. Though Whiterun isn't the main town in Skyrim. I think that title belongs to either Solitude or Riften. Solitude is a bit better, I think. But, you're right, Imperial City was grand. However, I hated having to hit a loading screen between each zone AND when walking through doors.

Don't forget the Arena District... that was cool as hell too. Imperial City was done very well.

Whiterun is the trading capitol or hub and Solitude is the actual capitol of Skyrim

I started in Skyrim, found out I was crap as a warrior, got Oblivion and used the Arena to hone my fighting skills. Made me a hell of a better player. Those were the good old days. Heck it makes me want to go back to OB just thinking about the Imperial City. Center of Empire or not Skyrim is the birthplace of the Empire and the cities should be bigger though not necessarily as cosmopolitan.

I nip across the border often. It's kind of odd sometimes as one of my characters is the same in Oblivion and Skyrim. Seeing him 200 years younger.

Balmora was a special place.

The Imperial city was great , an extensive sewer system, vampire lair under the Arena district, exits to most houses , districts and shops made traveling with a bounty easier, or merely avoiding the sun . But the biggest plus? All the little quests available in the city itself. It was worth speaking to various npc. Skyrim seems bland in comparison. You get quests from tavern keepers , factions, or the one or two people screaming at you for your attention constantly. Then again how long did it take the average player to find the Morag Tong H.Q in morrowind? or was that just me running around Vivec city for hours lol.

Still a favorite

Of the little time I played Oblivion, the Imperial city is what I will always remember as the best part of the whole game.

Nothing... Nothing I tell you is better than removing all the foods at The Feed Bag and then replacing them with poisoned Apples and observing what happens.

Why no sewers in Skyrim's cities? Do people just throw their waste out the window? Well, actually they probably do. But still, sewers are fun.

Solitude has sewers. You can hear them as you walk by the "manhole" covers. RIften has sewers as well, but I think people just through their "waste" into the canol.

Gods, I love that damned city.

Everything I could ever want and need in one place. Food, clothes, stuff, people. Even to this day I'm running into new NPC's I didn't know existed. (Thamriel's such a sweetie :3)
That city is the reason Cyrodiil is my home on Nirn. Not even Balmora could replace it in my heart.

oblivion personality yeah right

All I remember is a lot of loading screens, identical guards who had powers of clairvoyance, empty streets and not much personality.

I agree.
Funny how IC has a smaller population than Vivec (vivec had 19 merchants, in the foreign quarter). Imperial city is still better than the small towns that is called city in Skyrim.

just like skyrim

You must have been drunk

What I miss most about the Imperial City are the guards. Those fancy helmets. Their unmatched kindness and professionality. Those guys can still run after a thief while wearing full plate armor.

Compare that with Skyrim guards.

Some of my favorite memories happened there. Snatch an apple upstairs of a shop. The sound of heavily armored men sprinting downstairs. "Oh crap, oh crap, oh crap." "STAHP RIGHT THERE CRIMINAL SCUM!"