FWIW, I go across downtown on my commute. (Big city by total area, ~4x4 blocks of "downtown.")
My solution when I bought my bike, and then my spare bike, was to get a touring bike. A. because I'm a clyde, and it made (and makes) sense to me to carry a load with a bike designed to carry a load, B. because it rolls well with wide(r) tires, and C because I ride when it's windy, and nothing kills the joy of a good ride like 5 miles of 25 mph headwind when you're sitting up straight.
If I were buying today, I'd look at touring bikes again because they work. I'd also look at gravel, multi-surface, or all-road bikes. I'd probably look at putting different tires on it, either slicks or minimal tread. Note you'll probably want to go low-end, both because of the greater loss if a high-end bike is stolen, and because there may be a better chance of finding rack mounts on the less expensive bike.