You should always sit down with the max buy in at whatever stakes you're playing. It is no good that your opponents have big stacks when your own stack is too small to win their stack. It is always +EV to have more chips in front of you.

Your idea that you might as well be playing higher stakes if you have a deeper stack is not a good analogy. The blinds determine the initial dead money in the pot, which sets the base-line of bet sizing to follow. Ultimately the blinds determine the final pot size.

YES, there are going to be more options as far as 4-betting and 5-betting PRE and b/r on multiple streets. This means you have more opportunities to make choices. You should relish these opportunities because your opponents have more chances to make mistakes against you.

Would you stop playing and switch tables if you won up to a 250bb stack? No, you would stay because now your implied odds hands have much greater value.

Finally, and with much respect, it sounds like you're playing scared money.