you would be 15 minutes from manhattan (or less) in downtown jersey city. you are in journal square. you'd have a much more manhattan-y vibe here downtown with at least a smattering of 'hip' restaurants and bars and a young professionals sort of typical neighbor. the slightest bit of research should have cleared this up for you in advance. street parking is also easier downtown as you only need to shuffle one day a week in downtown zones if you get a residents permit. you can also get a parking lot downtown for under $300, which would be unheard of in manhattan or most of Brooklyn.

FYI, since you are speaking of street parking and you seem pretty new in town, you do need to go get a residents parking permit to be allowed to leave your car on the streets during posted hours for longer than 2 hours. to do this you will need to update your license registration and title to new jersey. this will take time and require planning and at least one visit to your friendly NJ MVC office. the residents permit is unavailable to you if you live in a large building that offers its own parking, even if said on-site parking is prohibitively expensive for you. enjoy!

i am also curious about what a 'suburb of jersey city' means. i wasn't aware we had any... i find it fairly hard to believe that you applied for and accepted a job involving a cross-country move without understanding damn well that the job was located in new jersey, not new york.