Yes, BPF and I are in violent agreement (I like that term!). Anything you do to lighten the nosewheel early in the takeoff is better. I like nosewheel off earlier, but it's not a "gotta have" for a good or "right" takeoff. What I oppose is the notion that the aircraft is hurtling down the runway with no nose up control application, waiting for a number to be seen on the ASI, when then flying is commenced. "Fly it" from the moment you open the throttle - nosewheel light, or nosewheel off, as you wish. If you're on a gravel runway and/or the prop is brand new (as was one of the two 182s I was flying in), I like to get it as far away from the loose surface as possible.
My recent experience (because I was mentoring it and drawing attention to it, was that is was possible to see the far end of the runway over the top of the cowl with the nosewheel just off the surface. I was holding the plane in this attitude to draw attention to this. But, I'm tall, so this might not be the case for everyone.
I agree that more than 10 flap is not approved for the 172/152/150, hence my sneaky wording of "started the takeoff with...". Leaving the ground with more than 10 in those types would not be conforming to the flight manual - I'll leave that to pilot judgement.
Trim as you wish, I don't depend upon trim position indicators when flying a plane new to me, I just make it do what I intend, and trim control forces out as appropriate.
My theme is that held nose light, single tricycle Cessnas will not need to be "rotated", they will nicely fly off themselves when they reach a suitable flying speed. In doing it this way, there is no downside.
There is no improvement in steering because the nosewheel is on the runway an the latter phases of the takeoff roll. Once you're going faster than 20 knots, the rudder is doing it all anyway, as it should. The only plane I have flown with separate nosewheel steering is the Twin Otter - I could not wait to get the nose light, aligned down the centerline, so I could center the steering lever, and ignore it after that!
I assert the foregoing for single Cessna tricycles. Not T tailed Pipers, they can be a little bit startling if lots of nose up control is held in prior to a certain speed. Fly the T tail Pipers as the flight manual says...