I agree that Pacifidlog is pretty dull. I'm not sure why they didn't do more with it, to be honest.
Unlike a lot of people here, I don't really mind the second town in most games. Sure, there's not much to do, but I like the rustic feel that it typically has. Viridian always seemed like an interesting crossroads (the first town, the final gym, the path to the Pokémon League, and a key starting point for exploiting the glitchiness of Red and Blue via the Old Man), and Cherrygrove always struck me as the sort of town I'd like to live in (trees, water, and relative serenity, yet not totally isolated). I'll agree, though, I'm not too fond of Oldale. Maybe part of it's the fact that I don't like RSE/Hoenn that much.
One city I think could have been better is Saffron. It's full of buildings, yet most of them don't even have doors, and after Silph Co. and the two gyms, the place doesn't have much to offer. I spent a lot of time there in Gold commuting from Kanto to Johto and vice-versa, but I've always wanted to get out and go elsewhere as quickly as possible.