If it's "by design" then the design is flawed, imo.
Starting locations are all over the place with regards to their bonuses and available resources, regardless of map size and settings. One start may see you in the midst of plenty, while the next may see you trapped on a peninsula or isthmus, trapped by creatures you can't hope to defeat so early, with a lone horse or warg as your only resource.
It's easy to say that you should just "play what you get", and if you find that fun, have a ball. I don't. When I start up a game, I want to know that I'll be able to start in a location that allows me to actually play the game; get my explore on, beat up some low level mobs, grab a resource or three I can base a strategy around. I'm not interested in a 2/4/0 or 1/5/1 square, but finding even a 4/3/2 or 5/3/1 can be an exercise in itself, much less getting lucky enough to actually find a settleable tile next to a river. Heck, I need a hokey for ctrl-N.
I prefer to grow tall, not wide, so I don't need dozens of possible city locations surrounding my start, just a couple of viable ones.
I think this is something we should have more control over via the initial game settings.