I'm new to cycling and want to purchase my own bike but am not sure what is the best type for use in city - I want to use it to go downtown or to the beach - mostly on weekends.
The best piece of advise I can give you is to get to a local bike shop not the department store. Tell them what you just told us. Any good local bike store should let you test ride them and let you see what you like and don't like. Not only will you get a better assembly, you will gain a source of knowledge when questions come up from time to time. You may pay a few bucks more up front, but then again maybe not. The knowledge available to you for the few extra bucks is a bargain and will save you far more than it costs.