I love this game, very addictive and there are so many levels of strategy involved. 1 question regarding a 2 player game:

1. Are you supposed to take out more district cards for 2 player? 5 Taverns when you can practically only build one (if not using the Quarry) seems a little excessive

No, you are no more likely to draw duplicates than with more players. You just need to use the secondary abilities of the Magician or Wizard:

The magician can discard any number of cards and draw an equal number of replacements (instead of trading hands with a player.

The wizard can build duplicate districts.