I feel a bit unconformable with not having a "public_html" directory. I like having my web server pointing at that, and placing as few PHP files into it as possible. Hopefully, just index.php.

When I clone the October repo, I see that all files are together, and there is no "public_html" directory. This is a bummer.

Does anyone have advice to restructure October to have "public_html"?

This is perfectly possible. You just need to run a single command to bring that structure back: http://octobercms.com/docs/setup/configuration#public-folder

Perfect thanks!