Equality Quote by Vincent Frank

Frank’s line reads like the modern municipal creed: growth, but with a conscience. The first sentence is technocratic on purpose. “Attracting continued development” signals he’s speaking to investors, planners, and the people who measure success in cranes and permits. But he doesn’t say “affordable housing,” “displacement,” or “rents,” which is precisely the point. The language keeps the coalition broad: pro-development listeners hear momentum; skeptical residents hear an implied promise of fairness without any binding commitments.

The geographic specificity - “inner and western part of Jersey City” - does quiet political work. It acknowledges an imbalance many locals feel: the waterfront and downtown have been treated as the city’s front door, while other neighborhoods are asked to wait. By naming the west, he’s gesturing at neglected infrastructure, weaker transit access, and fewer amenities. It’s also a hedge against the accusation that Jersey City’s prosperity has been curated for newcomers rather than shared with long-timers.

“Nobody should be left behind” is the moral tagline, and it’s effective because it’s hard to argue with and easy to repeat. It borrows the cadence of equity talk without stepping into the risky specifics of who might be “left behind” and by what mechanism. The subtext is a familiar tension in fast-changing cities: development is both the engine of opportunity and the accelerant of inequality. Frank is trying to occupy the narrow strip between “let the market work” and “protect the people,” offering reassurance while leaving room to negotiate what “prosper” actually costs.