seeking bike advice

I'm looking for a bike for general tooling around on paved roads, nothing fancy needed. I just don't want it to be a piece of garbage. Definitely needs to have multiple gears and handbrakes, but other than than I'm not too picky.

I'm not living in Brooklyn (sigh) or in any place where Craigslist would be of help. Can anyone suggest a brand or location (such as dog box store) or specs or anything I should be looking for?

Danke!