A few additional comments about the area of Halas.
(1) Initially I didn't pay much attention to what was above my character in the housing/crafting area. I vaguely imagined it was rock and snow. Last night, however, I saw clouds in the area I'd at first thought were "snow veins" in the rocks above. Having realized it was sky peeping through, I realized that some of the large rocks are "floating". They are up there, completely surrounded by sky, and not connected to anything. It doesn't look magical, it looks like a mistake.
(2) If ever there was a place where crafting should be done indoors, it would be new Halas. What artisan can craft well in an open air location with fingers getting stiff from the cold, not to mention half-frozen crafting materials. With all the snow and ice, it would have been a welcome retreat into a traditional crafting house. You can't convince me they don't have the materials there to craft a building suited for artisans to do their best work.
(3) New Halas seems a bit siimple graphically, compared to the original cities. I might have expected the reverse to be true. I'm not sure why there seems to be an effort to more players away from the older cities. I never feel like I've "seen it all" in Freeport or Qeynos, unlike New Halas. I know Halas is supposed to a kind of outpost town, so it's not the level of refinement, it's the level of details. That wouldn't be an issue either for me, except it's now one of two places to start a good character.
(4) I do think New Halas effectively conveys "cold". Enough so that it makes item (2) one reason I wouldn't want to station my character there permanently. My Barbarian had soooo been looking to move to New Halas. I guess she's been a little too spoiled by Qeynos. She will visit on occasion though, and maybe one day if they move crafting indoors she will be tempted. 