I used to ride a low end road bike for my commute, but I wanted fenders, disc brakes, a back rack, and wider tires for winter commuting.
After much research, I narrowed it down to touring bikes, dutch bikes, and cross bikes. I really liked the dutch bike I had in mind, but I was worried that it was too casual, and I like to ride fast. The cross bikes looked ideal for the summer, they could fit at most 28mm tires and I wanted wider tires for the snowy months. I was worried about touring bikes being too heavy. I ended up buying a Trek Crossrip, which is advertised as an "adventure bike". I'm not sure what the means but it had all the features I was looking for.
In retrospect, I like the bike but I do have some slight buyers regret, because it is ok for most things, but it is not great for anything. If I had to do it again, I would buy a more specialized bike. Actually I think I would buy a low maintenance cheap fixie (my town is pretty flat). And maybe a cheap fattie for the winter. But from the options I had in mind, I think I would get the dutch bike for days when I have to carry a lot of things or when the weather is bad.
Two things I didn't pay enough attention to: the geometry and the stiffness of the frame. The cross rip comes with drop bars. So, I assumed I would be able to ride fast in aggressive positions. In reality, I am about 5mph slower than with my road bike, with the same level of effort. And much slower if there are many turns. The geometry of the frame is not designed for speed. And the bike is not very good for aggressive turns.