That's how I felt about it before I started using it. If it's more than just startup time holding you back, I'd give it a shot.

> As someone who doesn't use Clojure, but watches it fairly closely, I'd say the least appealing part of Clojure is its reliance on the JVM.

Like it or not, this is what made Clojure successful in the enterprise, at least when compared against other Lisps.

Is that based on numbers or a guess? How many Clojure applications are there in comparison to Lisp or Scheme?

Based on guess.

I see lots of Java shops now having Clojure code and talking about it at JUGs and how it enables their business.

You just need to have a look at InfoQ, Skills That Matter, Devoxx or Jax for ongoing talks.