I think a real working economy in skyrim is something that most including myself would love to see.

Solitude. Swarms with [censored] Imperials.

Markarth. I want to see them stupid guards losing some weight

Not because of the Thieves Guild, but because I want that Maven [censored] brought to her knees begging for salvation by my sword/bow/lightning bolt! Honestly, that [censored] is the only reason I haven't sided with anyone in the civil war on any of my playthroughs. [censored]in [censored] needs to be [censored]in destroyed and not by being killed, a swift death would be to gracious for the [censored].

To the ideas of the OP: Could it be that hard to make the economy of a town dependend on what is found in the surrounding and the amount of work force currently living there? That would already add a massive amount of immersion imho and be what Todd promised beforehand.

//edit

Oh yes, the [censored] are all supposed to be there. No amount of [censored]-labels could show how much I despise her.