Not that I'm a car expert by any stretch of the imagination, but I've known people who have owned all three (not people that have owned all three vehicles, but people who have owned one or the other. ;-)
Escape, the early ones at least, weren't reliable, from what I've heard. And I dunno that the Cherokees were much better.
On the other hand, Subarus are THE car to have back home, where the roads are realllllly rough on vehicles. They do extremely well in slippery conditions, and designed very intuitively (as you noticed), get good gas milage, and last a long time. Older Subarus had trouble with rust in salty conditions, but they appear to have solved that.
But then, *I* want a Forester, so I'm a bit biased, I confess.
Ok, so that was a really one-sided review of a vehicle I've never driven. Kinda sad. ;-)
Yah... and the other fun thing about Subaru's is that they're overwhelmingly driven by liberals. Just think of the sheer fun of putting a BUSH/Cheney sticker on one! :-)