I lived in Passaic/Clifton for 25 years, grew up there. It’s a great place to live, relatively diverse community. You won’t get as much house/property for your money though, be aware of that. Prices can range from lo – hi depending on the house and depending on what’s for sale. Not much difference between Passaic and Clifton as far as I can tell – just that a number of years ago Clifton’s frum community was pretty sparse – it’s exploded in last 10-15 yrs as Jews have pushed out further towards Rt 3.
P/C is more densely populated and far less spread out than Monsey/Ramapo area, which means that if you’re willing to walk 1 mile or so, you don’t have to constrain yourself to being right near a Sfard shul – pretty much all is walk-able. I used to walk from my house on one side of town near Clifton to the bus stop on Van Houten ave – took me 20 mins, max. Stores and malls/shopping are all 10-15 min drive max away – unlike Monsey area where it could take you nearly an hour of driving just to get to Target and back. I used to be able to make it as far out as Willowbrook Mall in 15 mins. K&K Kosher food store is on Main Ave 5 mins from everywhere in P/Clifton, Shoprite is 5-7 mins, Acme 5 mins, Amazing Savings 5 mins, Macy’s 15 mins, Target/Costco 5 mins.
What you will likely get is a far better commute. I live in Monsey area (Wesley Hills) as well and am sick and tired of the commute (I work in east Midtown) and would love to move further south closer to NYC as well. It could easily take 2+ hrs there and back, currently, plus is over $100/month more expensive. The commute from P/Clift as I recall to Manhattan (I did it for 5 years) is about 1-1 1/4 hr door to door, less going home, by bus. NYC is accessible by train as well, more quickly, on a transfer to Penn Station-NYC from Secaucus Station. Brooklyn may be a bit more on a drive, you can bus/train into the city and subway it to Bklyn, tho that will probably take longer than driving (depending on where in Bklyn). You can bypass NYC on a drive altogether via Goethals=Staten I Expwy=Verrazanno, though tolls on VZ are steep, and can be a little trafficky on Stat IExpwy in the AM going to Bklyn. There are definitely ppl driving to Bklyn each day, so carpooling is an option. Either way, your commute to Bklyn will definitely be better than from Monsey, hands down.
I don’t know if you’re married or not – but those extra 30-40 mins you save on commute (not to mention the $100+/month) are very, very precious, when you have a wife who works as well and has to fend for herself with the kids morning and nite while you shlep for 2+ hours to and from the house. It may seem like nothing on paper (“what’s 30-40 mins or so more on a commute?”) but it can gradually grind you down. I generally don’t see my kids from Sunday to Sunday, since they’re sleeping when I get home, and I usually leave my office no later than 5-5:30. My whole weekday life revolves around and is deeply affected by my commute.
Just my 2 cents.