Oh please, I live in the steepest country in the world, I've owned both a AWD and an FWD, it makes no difference which one you have, unless you like going off-road or stomping down on the accellerator in the wet. The only difference is your fuel consumption going from FWD or RWD to AWD. The only time I would recommend AWD is if you're looking at a petrol turbo, which it doesn't sound like you are.Also, figure out *where* you will be driving the car most of the time. If it's in a very hilly neighborhood, you may want a 4WD car. That's why I got mine (a Honda CR-V).
In the end it's all of course of the everyone to decide for themselves. I love cars with V8s and rear wheel drive, and another guy might think me crazy for not loving all over the latest Volvo.

I will tell you, Nissan's are awesome. I highly recommend them.
I will second this opinion, having owned two of them, although their line-up seems to have gotten very boring in the last few years, a few of the exceptions being the new GT-R, of course, and the Stagea.