Your friend is right, with the crop factor it is 75 mm, .....
Bollucks! This is internet dribble.
If you have a 35mm lens or a 50mm lens, that is what you have... period. The focal length does not change. However, the field of view (FoV) does narrow. Do more research to find out the difference.
I have the 35mm f/2 & the 50mm f/1.8. Both are fine lenses. I do not endorse DX lenses personally, but the new 35mm f/1.8 is supposed to be a nice lens. For street type photography, I think you will find the 35mm a good focal length, but then again, so is the 50mm. I also have a D80.
Go into a local shop and try both of them out, unless you do as suggested above. But due to the fact the either of these lenses ARE NOT kit material, there will be a difference in what you can accomplish with them versus the kit lens at the respective focal lengths