We carry the Zodiac on the foredeck for offshore crossings but use the davits for interisland sailing.
Several things to consider before you blow off davits. A couple of hundred pounds on the foredeck can radically change your boat's sailing characteristics on each tack, but on the davits, it will be a bit less. We never leave our Zodiac in the water when not in use as I hate cleaning the bottom. It's a lot easier to pull your dink up on davits every night than put it on the foredeck. Leaving it in the water just invites theft.
A center console on an inflatable takes away most of the room in the dink and adds weight, and really serves no worthwhile function. Steering with the motor's tiller is easy.
Davits are a very convenient way to carry a dink and the inconvenience of having them is very much outweighed by their simplicity. Plus well-designed davits can hold the boat and motor, saving all the hassle of taking the motor on and off each time you want to bring the dink up.
As for a motor, we have an 11.6 ft Zodiac inflatable with aluminum floorboards (not a RIB) with a 15hp, 4 stroke engine. It will do 35 knots with one person and easily plane with three adults and their gear. It also sips fuel compared to a two-stroke and now that I have used a 4 stroke, the idea of going back to a noisy motor which requires mixing oil in the gas is just not a go. An overpowered dink is very dangerous so do not ignore the manufacturer's rating.
IMO towing a dink is just an invitation to losing it. If it gets full of water (rain or spray) or flips it will be so heavy that only a very oversized painter will stand up to the strain. Retrieving your dink after the painter breaks can be extremely difficult and dangerous, and finding it if you don't immediately notice its departure can be lots of good fun, not!