Often on this forum comments are very insular and limited to those commenter's way of life or limited exposure.

- Widening Driveway: Yes, it is a perfectly legitimate request. Many, many people add pavers/bricks flanking concrete (even asphalt) driveways to allow you to not step into the grass when exiting a car (especially snowy climates or when plantings are there). Many just like the look and even plan for them in advance of starting building. So call it a driveway border, not a widening, to calm the peanut gallery. Pavers would look nice, but you can't just set them on the dirt, they would need installed just as a paver patio/walk is installed (that applies to any area of pavers used). If you do so, carry them around the front door little walk. I wouldn't pick a dimension (the 24" you propose), I would base it on the length of paver (e.g. 2@8" = 16") so no cutting.

- Garage man door sidewalk: Yes, it is a perfectly legitimate request. Man doors are used by many, many people to enter/exit the house instead of using the overhead doors. The slab landing is the default tract builder choice. If it were thought ahead of time, you would have connected the concrete to the driveway, and now continuing the paver border just like the front walk would all be consistent. So evaluate whether you would pay more for a concrete extension, which would then be bordered by pavers, vs leaving the concrete landing with just a paver extension (removing the concrete landing for all pavers would probably cost more than pouring a couple squares of concrete). Going "square" instead of "rounding the corner" would match the front walk.

- Trash pad: Yes, it is a perfectly legitimate request. Many, many people store their cans next to the garage. Often, especially in tract homes, the garage is small and you can't fit larger 65-95 gallon cans next to the car, let alone roll them out without pulling the car out first. Also, many, many people don't like the smell of a week worth of organics or dog poo composting in heat. Pavers or extending a concrete pad, while you extend the sidewalk, could both work. Screening with landscape is a choice as well.

- Tree next to garage corner: There is only a street view picture, where it does appear to be too close to the house, not just for the future sidewalk, but consider it's canopy size when mature.

- Stone edging at trees (and porch): That is strictly a personal and functional preference, as is the type of material if chosen to do. You can either cut and leave a natural sod edge, or place an edging material. I would opine if you choose an edging, make it flush with the sod (not sticking up like a garden wall or soldier row) so it doesn't distract from the house and rest of the landscape.

- Garden wall at porch: A garden wall is considered something less than a couple feet high, decorative only (vs a retaining wall). Here, I see a vent for the porch and the decorative house stone veneer. So you shouldn't raise the bed level and it's plantings, which would negate having a garden wall. That does not mean you couldn't choose a stone edging (your preference as stated above) that gives a little height, or have just a portion of a garden wall at the far corner only where the grade slopes a bit down next to the neighbor. If done so, it should be considered with the planting layout and bed footprint.

*please note when I say "pavers," I am talking about an interlocking paver system (e.g. Unilock, Belgard), not cheap patio blocks you buy at Home Depot.