You can get a fine commuting bike for $1000. Find a bike shop you like and try out different bikes. A drop bar "racing style" bike would work, as well as a hybrid bike, and so would the "urban/city" style bikes. The only real critical thing is that it have a low gear for the climb home (and maybe a rack if you don't want to ride with a backpack), but other than that whatever kind of bike feels good will work. You might want to have a lower gearing modification by the bike shop so talk to them about that and factor that into the cost.