Sabals need lots of heat to grow well. Sabal Minor and birmingham would probably be best for you because they are cold tolerant and dont form much of a trunk (birmingham will form a trunk eventually, but the fronds are always at eye level).
Here is a comparion pic of my Sabal minor. The first pic was from May 2009 and the second pic was about 2 years later in April 2011...

And here is a more recent pic of it in June 2011

My Sabal Minor is now in bloom so this is its mature size, but it will grow much more since they can live for at least 100 years!

Good luck!
-Alex

I'm afraid I have to agree with TZ. Sabals (and Needle palms for that matter), although very cold tolerant have a very high heat requirement--even for palms. Even in South Florida though, they are relatively slow growers. If I had one to suggest to you though, it would be Sabal louisiana. It's one of the faster Sabals, will eventually develop a short trunk and is among the more cold tolerant Sabals. But given your particular climate, I'd suggest you experiment with Trachyscarups palms (fortunei and other species are possible), Jubaea chilensis (Chilean Wine), Pindos (Butia capitata), and Med fans (Chamaerops). Happy palm gardening!

njoasis I thought pindos were like sabals in my climate slow and not happy? I'll definately consider them. I know that sabals love heat and believe it or not during a 'normal' summer we hang out in the upper 70's and 80's all summer just not this summer. Maybe I'll start with very small one and two year old plants to see how they deal with the lack of humidity. I tried meds a few years ago and I am not a big fan of them (don't know why though). Yall have any pindo pics for us to peep?

I bet Pindos will do well you! Mine seem to take off before the arrival of tropical heat. In fact, when I first got mine a few Winters ago, I was overwintering them in the basement under only moderate fluorescent light conditions--not super bright by any means and temps in the 70's. They grew very fast under those conditions and continue to grow fast outside in real heat. Just transplanted them but need a larger tub for the biggest. I'll take pics of them tomorrow--dark here now. I've seen pics of Chilean Wine Palms in chilly, maritime climate (San Fran, Britain, etc.), true they are much slower growing than Pindos but boy, what a gorgeous palm. I love Med fan (Europenan cousin of the Asian Trachy by the way). What is fascinating about both Trachys and Chamaerops is the high degree of inter species variability. Meaning that even within the same species, individuals may exhibit very different traits in terms of cold hardiness, growth rate and appearance (Meds with narrowly divided leaves, broadly divided leaves, silver blue leaves, more solitary vs. clumping etc.) These palms are genetically diverse and robust.

Pindos should do very well for you! I've seen them in California growing well. They dont need heat or humidty to thrive, although they do love the climate in the Southeast.
I think a lot of people would do a lot to be able to grow a Jubaea. Some people actually succeed, but most of the time, they die because it gets too hot and humid here in the summer. They are extremely slow growers, but defintely beautiful palms! You might be able to find a nice deal somewhere on the west coast (especially in California) since they are much easier to find by you than on this side of the country.
You might also be able to get away with date palms if you live in a place that doesnt get much below 20F during the worst of winter, and I think Chamaedorea microspadix and radicalis would be great shade palms too. Their fronds are really tropical!

Good luck!
-Alex

Yall are making me feel better about getting a pindo. I know if I do get one my wife is going to kill me. See she grew up in Jacksonville, FL and when she was young one of her chores was to clean up the pindo berries on the ground. She said those things stuck to hi hill and the bees chased her around. I�ll be popular with her and I�m gonna do it just to tick her off. Haha I have always wanted a jubaea but it was hard to justify the cost of say like a 5 gallon to the wife who is not all that impressed with my palm fascination because she was lucky enough to be born and raised in Florida (roll eyes). So my goal now is to convince her that I need a nice 7 gallon trachy and a 5 gallon pindo next week. Wish me luck.