bcpriess

Gravel bikes beat road bikes every time. It comes down to three key characteristics:

1) Their geometry tends to be more stable. Slightly longer wheelbases, longer trail on the fork, etc, will make it harder to go down in a crash, which could be valuable in an urban setting. You can go in a straight line forever with no hands.
2) Larger tires. I used to ride road bikes, but if you have any variation in surface quality of your pavement, maxxing out at 28c kind of sucks ass in terms of ride quality, and there's no perceptible difference in the amount of effort it takes to turn the wheels with 28c versus 47c. And 47c sucks up all the bumps, while 28 buzzes in your wrists if the pavement is bumpy. Also if you're hopping curbs or having to ride through / around construction sites that constantly pop up in cities, you'll really appreciate the larger tires as well. The lower pressure also makes it (or at least it seems to me) less likely to puncture and flat, which is a huge benefit if you're going anywhere.
3) Stack height. Gravel bikes tend to have a higher stack while still giving you the benefits of drop bars. Put another way, in an urban setting where turning your head frequently to look over your shoulder for cars sneaking up is frequent, you'll be in a better posture for doing so if your grips are a couple inches higher. The other benefit is that if you like riding in the drops, because they are in a more natural position for your wrists, then this gives you the best of everything.

The fourth is simply that gravel bikes look cooler. Road bikes tend to look fragile, while gravel bikes tend to have a little of that dirt bike aesthetic.

In a lot of ways, gravel bikes are like a fitness bike with dropbars, but I personally think you'll be dissatisfied with the loss of all around versatility if you switch to a straight up road bike. I still have my Lemond, but I never ride it. It just doesn't have the ride quality I want, and I sacrifice nothing by riding on my gravel bike, or even my dropbar mountain bike. You could also look at cyclocross bikes. Those are also pretty rad and again, more useful than a road bike.