A fixed gear or singlespeed will be perfect for you. I commute on my 69" geared fg and do some hillclimbing (11 km, 7%) and 160 km+ endurance riding too, and never really take my geared bike out anymore. Unless you're racing there's not a lot of riding that gears are really necessary for. **** some guys do 1600 km brevets and even RAAM fixed.

Geometry isn't really a huge deal as far as I'm concerned. Neither is steel vs aluminum---they're both fine. What you want for commuting and the occasional distance ride IMO is clearance for fenders and larger size tires, fender eyelets, and bottle cage mounts, preferably 2 sets. The San Jose is a rocking bike if this is what you're after, but the Redline is great too. Basically anything that satisfies those three constraints should make a great all around bike for you---there's no need to agonize over a decision.