Even the "worst" neighborhoods are calm in Stockholm. It's nothing compared to, say, Paris or Brussels. Living in the suburb, you're far more likely to get hurt by boredom than anything else. A lot of people in Stockholm (like in other cities) are bitter of how things have developed in recent years with the financial crisis, youth unemployment and housing situation while at the same time many people have been profited of real estate and consulting. Then they extrapolate this to mean that everyone is doing badly and the country is "going down the drain". I put no judgement in that it's just not particularly relevant for you. Your personal situation is going to overshadow the other factors.
The $100k USD figure is low, it's more like 10x that for a family sized house or apartment in or close to the city. People don't really buy apartments so much as rent them from the bank.
"Do note that tax levels are rather high once you reach higher levels of income (50%-55% marginal tax rate)"
Also note that this is a potentially good time of year for someone to start working in Sweden. Since the tax rate is progressive and calculated on a yearly basis if you start working mid year you will this year pay the same rate as someone earning half your salary. At least in theory.
To some extent, but personally I think it has just gone to far in the current direction that it doesn't really matter what you do.
When people think of Sweden as a "practical and policy driven place" it's a legacy of a couple of decades ago when the social democrats, for better or worse, were dominant in Swedish politics. Not necessarily because everything they did was good, but because they could trade reforms tit for tat with other parties so things got done. Today we have a situation more like in the US where there's two coalitions. With this political situation there isn't much that can be done without risking losing votes and giving the other coalition free reign to do whatever they want. So nothing gets done.
Of course like in other cities everyone has their pet theory of what to do, but I have yet to see one that is currently practical and politically viable.
There is one slight upside though. Stockholm isn't necessarily that different from an international perspective. You can still get short term contracts at international rates or better, especially with a commute of 15-30 minutes. It's mostly a relative issue based on culture, size and how things used to be.
The $100k USD figure is low, it's more like 10x that for a family sized house or apartment in or close to the city. People don't really buy apartments so much as rent them from the bank.