The Next Philadelphia?
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.

The 27-year-old mayor of Pittsburgh, Luke Ravenstahl, looks boyish when a white-haired old lady envelops him in a hearty hug at an Italian festival this weekend. But Mr. Ravenstahl’s skills at political glad-handing belie his status as the youngest big city mayor in America. He accepts hugs from the elderly, coolly responds to questions about neighborhood concerns, and asks school children about their high school football team. Mr. Ravenstahl, who was president of the city council between 2005 and 2006, became the unlikely mayor of Pittsburgh when his Democratic predecessor, Bob O’Connor, died in September of last year.
He faces a general election challenge in November from someone who is a Republican, entrepreneur, and former science policy advisor to President George H. W. Bush, Mark DeSantis. The winner of the race will attempt to lead Pittsburgh to long-term fiscal stability. While no longer the smoke-choked industrial city of yore, the health care industry is its largest employer. Since 2004, when the city’s expenditures outweighed its revenues, Pittsburgh’s municipal government has fallen under the oversight of two independent entities, the Intergovermental Cooperation Authority and the Act 47 Recovery Team. Like many American cities, Pittsburgh is caught between flat revenue growth, due to the loss of its mainstay industry, and burgeoning pension and health care costs and debt service, what the Manhattan Institute’s Steven Malanga calls “the three monsters” of a city’s budget. Pittsburgh, due to the magnitude of its decline in population and losses in the economic sectors, is to some extent unique. But the ramifications of the city’s fiscal crisis extend as far as New York City.
While New York, unlike Pittsburgh, has been blessed with a diverse and vibrant set of economic sectors that have kept revenue healthy, at the same time it has witnessed an unhealthy growth of “the three monsters.”
Thus, both mayoral candidates for Pittsburgh trumpet their attributes as fiscal managers. Mr. Ravenstahl says he stands for “good and responsible fiscal management.” Mr. DeSantis describes himself as a “fiscal conservative.”
As Mr. Ravenstahl makes his way through the throngs of voters who greet him on Sunday at the Little Italy Days in the city’s Bloomfield section, the thrust of his appeal becomes clear. Clad in a Pittsburgh Steelers polo shirt and black slacks, Mr. Ravenstahl wears his youth to his advantage and exudes energy.
His focus is on growing Pittsburgh’s economy and improving the city’s fiscal woes. “There’s no secret here that we have to provide jobs for these young professionals,” Mr. Ravenstahl says. “They love Pittsburgh, they love the feel, they love the quality of life, the low cost of living, but they have to have a job opportunity to do so.” He cites 130,000 square feet of lab and high-tech space as an example of the city’s path to an economic future. The lab will draw employers, who will create jobs and tax revenue for the fiscally-strapped city.
Mr. DeSantis declares that “the city is broke” and promises to improve the economy with a tax cut for start-up companies and a loan program for minority owned firms. “We need to reduce the cost of city government,” he says.
While Mr. Ravenstahl disagrees with Mr. DeSantis’s assertion that the city is broke, pointing to his most recent “structurally balanced budget,” including an anticipated $57 million “rainy day fund,” he has taken incremental measures to reduce costs. By reducing the number of health care plans from three to one, Mr. Ravenstahl was able to negotiate a better deal and save $17 million over three years. He also has attempted to join other Pennsylvania mayors in trying to address collectively a looming problem with the state’s public pension funds.
The local press has focused on several of Mr. Ravenstahl’s personal missteps, such as traveling on a plane of a local sports team owner to New York and attending a Boston Red Sox game at Fenway Park at the same time as an important community meeting. In response to such criticism, Mr. Ravenstahl says, “I’ve learned a lot over the past year. Going from somebody who was a relative unknown to the mayor’s office was a unique adjustment for me. I’ve gotten thicker skin over the past year. I understand they’re going to ask the tough questions and I’m willing to stand there and answer them.”
Given the city’s heavily Democratic leaning, more than 80% of voters, any Republican challenge is an uphill battle. While local pundits credit Mr. DeSantis for being more press savvy, politically astute, and better financed than his predecessors, Mr. Ravenstahl appears to be working his way to a second victory. During the Little Italy festival, a local voter walking by the mayor captures the prevailing sentiment, chiming in “I don’t care what they say about you.”
Pittsburgh is a cautionary tale for many American cities. It can either go the way of Detroit or become a comeback city like Philadelphia and Baltimore. Its future, as defined by either Mr. Ravenstahl or Mr. DeSantis, could provide a roadmap for how economically depressed cities can recover.
Mr. Gitell (gitell.com) is a contributing editor of The New York Sun.