You and I must have the same shitty sleep genetics.
I steer clear of Ambien for exactly the reasons you list, and now that I've tried the zopiclone, I'm sticking with the eszopiclone. The only side I get from that is a horrible taste in my mouth in the AM... perfectly happy to trade that for sleep.
If you want to try something in a different drug family, clonidine is an option. Its labeled use is as an anti-hypertensive, but it will help you sleep. However, there are some steep drawbacks. The first is rebound hypertension -- quit it abruptly and your BP shoots up pretty high. Abrupt discontinuation also causes a massive spike in catecholamines, which makes you want to crawl out of your skin. If that's not bad enough, one of its more common side effects is muscular weakness. If you get sufficient sedation from a low dose (around 30 micrograms), you increase the amount of REM sleep... that makes it one of the only sleep aids to have a beneficial impact on sleep architecture. Also, no memory loss, cognitive impairment, or sleepwalking, so it's really a balancing act.
And, of course, there's trazodone. I get every negative side from that imaginable so I don't touch it even though tons of people swear by it.
I just finished a three month taper to get off of an SSRI and clonidine for sleep. As long as this shop is operating, I'm sticking with their eszopiclone and a DHEA + pregnenolone supplement. Aside from Xanax, it's the most effective sleep regimen I've ever had.