In general I agree with you re the assymetry; I hated the N64 controller and that was a big part of why. That said, I myself do use the D-pad in lots of games (obviously anything with a menu, but I also significantly prefer it for fighting games, for instance... YMMV), and I think the PS2 left analog isn't in a terribly awkward position... I have to move my left thumb less than one inch from the symmetric position. Notably this means I can easily switch between D-pad and left analog, too.
By comparison, the GameCube controller not only has the D-pad in a worse (less symmetrical) position than the the PS2 left analog, but the D-pad itself actually kinda sucks.
I don't really remember the XBox (original) controller beyond that it was too large. 360 controller is cool, though.