I agree with all of these points, especially the first! I read a whole series of books I didn't really like just because it took place near my place of work, but 100 years ago. Haha.

One of the other nice things about doing this in your first draft is that having something to orient you in real life helps you keep everything straight. You can always go back and change the street names later. If it'll help you keep your geography consistent in your first draft, that could be a huge benefit!

Lorien