Please please please don't ever call Newark a suburb of NY. Don't get me wrong, we love New York, but we're also proud of our own state and wouldn't want to think of one of our most major city as a suburb for another place.

With that being said, I'd recommend spending a few hours driving around and walking the downtown. If you feel comfortable and happy during that time, maybe you would want to move there. If you feel nervous, and/or uncomfortable, maybe it's not the right place for you.

P.S. Google street view is great, but IMO does a terrible job of getting a places vibes.