I bought the 16-85 ten months ago and love it as an all-around DX ens.

Compared to the 17-55 it's lighter and cheaper. The 17-55's constant f/2.8 aperture is useful for certain types of photography, but VR is more appealing to me because I shoot primarily in the daylight and want smaller aperture for better depth of field.

Compared to any 18-XX lens it's really surprising how valuable the extra 2mm of focal length on the wide end are. I also own a Sigma 10-20 that I used to use frequently for wide-angle landscape shots. Since buying the 16-85, the 10-20 stays in my bag a lot more.

I find the 85mm end offers enough telephoto reach for most uses. I have a Nikon 70-300 that I use for maybe 5% of my shots overall.