You pretty much need something other then a PC due to DRM. For example google movies will not give you 5.1 audio or 1080p on a PC but will on the Chromecast. An xbox one S will play most things, but not google content. Functionality may be restricted by country.
DVDs are only 480p, you really need something higher quality on a new TV. I have noticed that HBO streaming looks better to me then cable.
Have you used wireless charging? I did with my Nexus 5 while it did work most of the time I had occasions where alerts would vibrate the phone off the charger, or it got bumped slightly out of the charge spot. Easier to plug in a cable, for me anyway. It ended up being cool idea I thought I would really like, but in practice I didn't like it and stopped using it.
I having seen any articles about squatters. For actual houses owners will hire companies to make them look lived in. Setting out pumpkins on Halloween for example.
For Condos you need a fob to enter and use the elevator so not many people who don't belong are going to get in. Some newspaper articles have quoted that around 10% of the condos in Vancouver are empty.
dd-wrt has gotten pretty bad. They don't publish new releases anymore you just pick a daily build from one of the random people who publish builds and hope it doesn't brick your router. Learned this after bricking my router :(
I think their main developer (Brainslayer) publishes his builds periodically. So those aren't random people. But in general it's not really a fully open development project. I.e. it's not governed by any community.
OpenWRT is better in this sense, but even there some people split into recent LEDE project: https://www.lede-project.org
Regarding bricking. Linksys WRT1900ACS is designed with that in mind. It has two partitions, and you always flash updates to another one, so if something goes wrong, you can easily switch to the other partition which will hold previous installation, using special on / off sequence. It's a neat idea, and more routers should follow it.
You probably want to go bigger if you want to code from the couch. I have a computer hooked up to a 56in 1080p TV in my living room for games. If I am browsing the web I normally zoom in quite a bit in order to read things easily. My couch is fairly close to the TV ~5ft away.
Which is why I bought a black and white laser printer 10+ years ago. Never need to worry about the ink drying out. I am still on the starter toner. Not sure if I will be able to buy toner when it runs out, but it still works even with Windows 10 over USB. Network mode only works for printing, no network scanner drivers anymore.
Does the high density housing in SF allow for families? In Vancouver at least the majority of condos in the core are single bedroom so if you want a family you need to move to the suburbs.
Although, realistically, that's what tends to happen anyway and has been for a long time. I know lots of people who liked the urban lifestyle even before it became as popular. Walk to a bar or restaurant or head to a play after work.
At least many of them started valuing a yard, easy access to a car, and better public schools after they had children.
DVDs are only 480p, you really need something higher quality on a new TV. I have noticed that HBO streaming looks better to me then cable.