you should just get a negative rise stem which will drop those handlebars significantly.  the stem on there now is pretty steep. after that, you could try on a set of mustache bars chopped or some mtn risers chopped as some of them will have a slight drop to them.

in the end though, just get a road bike if you're riding on the road.

My cyclocross was the best choice I ever made.

"it's a mountain bike that never sees anything close to a mountain"

cyclocross is for riding packed gravel and making money on craigslist.

if the only thing your tires see is road/asphalt, just get a road bike. cyclocross bikes are the crossover hybrids of the bike world.

u need a fork and motor like that, maybe frame to ahah!

If you're going to use it as a commuter bike, I wouldn't recommend a road bike unless you have a really easy and unobstructed route with little to no traffic.  Given your limited road space, if you have to take a sewer drain, branch, or pothole, I suspect the road bike isn't going to take it as well as a cyclocross/hybrid.

I want a road bike in the future, but the bianchi volpe I got is exactly right up my alley for what I need (when I used to commute on it).  I also take it on ventures to downtown, up a 9 mile dirt road, and back on the road again.  I'd have to take my mtb if I had the road bike, and that fucker doesn't feel very good on the road, as you've found out.