[@TGM] Agree to disagree. Level 1 in 5e isn't balanced well enough, mechanically. Doesn't really feel like starting an adventure to me, just feels like the characters are nerfed. Even WotC feels that way, otherwise most of their adventures wouldn't start with a section specifically designed to get the party to level 3 that's only loosely connected to the real plot.

My rant aside, I'd be just as happy starting at level 2. Apart from just giving us more hit points to work with, level 2 doesn't really offer anything that would give a party a significant advantage over a level 1 group. Casters haven't unlocked second level spells, most classes haven't unlocked their sub-class features, and what powerful abilities players do unlock at this level for offense are heavily limited in the number of times they can be used per day. If anything, starting at this level just speeds up play, because it encourages players to take short rests over long rests to regain abilities and hit points.