Plenty of people put 1.5 inch slicks on 26ers for commuting. I’m sure there are still 100 options of tires in that size. It does help to put on a bigger hybrid crankset like 48 38 28. With the 42 32 22 cranks from the 104bcd era, smoother smaller tires put your cruising gear right around where you want to shift between the middle and big ring all the time. SRAM makes an 8 speed cassette with short shifts at the high end and big shifts low that works great with this larger crankset size.