It's a walkable city with nice places for workers to get lunch. Near the highways but has a train. The places you mentioned like Bridgewater lack the train and walkability. Princeton has a train but it's further from the city and not as central. And it's land is super expensive.

New Brunswick is awesome fuck the haters. Some ppl are so afraid of crime they can't enjoy a nice urban setting. It's safe and pleasant and way more interesting the most of NJ