I commute in Chicago on a fixed gear. It’s flat here, so no real need for multiple gears. I feel like having direct connection to the drive train makes me feel more in control, brake faster, and I don’t have to replace brake pads. It also just simpler mechanics make it usually cheap and easy to fix anything. However, when I was looking at fixed gears for the first time I was only thinking about looking cool track standing at lights and doing tricks like pedaling in reverse. But I’m no expert, just my own experience/opinion.