I am 49 years old and have not been back into riding for that long and the problem I see with the drop down bars would possibly be my back. I feel like most of the time I would be in the most upright position anyway.
Another consiration is cost. Most hybrids and a lot of the flat bar road bikes are considerably less money than the roadies. I know we are not comparing apples to apples, but quite often it does just come down to plain ole economics.