Depends what you mean by "require Visual Studio". Your choice of IDE isn't really related to the language used or size of the project, in my opinion, just so long as you're using an editor you feel comfortable with.
If you are looking for editors other than the default Scite that comes with Unity...
If you feel like changing from Javascript to C# or Boo, I find Monodevelop to be very excellent. There are some other suggestions here.
Updated for question update
Absolutely, use an external IDE or text editor. It's all just text files in the end, Unity doesn't offer any additional benefit from using Scite. Pick (or find) an editor you love and use that, it can only possibly make your life better (even on small projects!)