I ride a Jamis Coda Sport as my commuter and think it is preferable to my road bike, which is a Soma Smoothie.
The flat bars give me a bit more upright position, in turn giving me better visibility.
Then there is the matter of the grass/gravel areas that I go through. My road bike tires might have a bit of trouble with that but the wider tires on the Jamis do fine.
There is also the lower gearing on the Jamis that helps with the one hill that I have to deal with. I'm old and have bad knees.
My Jamis cost $403 and I have about $1200 in my Soma Smothie.
The wheels on the Jamis have a higher spoke count than the wheels on my road bike, making me think it is a bit more reliable......but I have no proof of that since I have never broken a spoke.
My Jamis has lugs for mounting racks that the Soma does not.
The kickstand looks great on the Jamis.......might look out of place on the Soma.
Just some of my reasons.