Success Quote by Jacob Frey

Civic bravado is one of politics' safest currencies, and Jacob Frey spends it with practiced confidence. "Minneapolis is a city that doesn't shy away from big goals" borrows the language of startups and sports teams: ambitious, forward-leaning, allergic to smallness. It's boosterism, but not the quaint chamber-of-commerce kind. The phrase "big goals" signals a progressive policy horizon without naming any single flashpoint, allowing listeners to project their preferred agenda onto it: climate action, housing, policing reform, public health, economic growth.

The second half does the heavier work. "We are not afraid of the hard work it takes" is a preemptive rebuttal to cynicism. Minneapolis in the 2020s is a city where ideals collide with governance: post-George Floyd scrutiny of public safety, debates over redevelopment and displacement, strained budgets, and the slow grind of implementation. Frey is implicitly arguing that the city can sustain moral urgency past the protest moment and past the headlines. "Hard work" is code for compromise, timelines, bureaucratic friction, and political backlash.

The subtext is also defensive. The "not afraid" construction hints at an accusation already in the air: that city leadership talks big but stalls, or that residents demand transformation without tolerating the disruption it causes. By making courage and labor a shared civic identity ("we"), Frey tries to convert dissent into collective responsibility. It's a line designed to unify a fractured audience by flattering them into perseverance.