When Tom Murphy first took office in January 1994, Pittsburgh was suffering from one of the worst inferiority complexes in its history. The city had yet to right itself after wrenching changes in the steel industry that began in the early 1980s. Government finances were in a sorry state, with a $32 million deficit, and there was no serious plan for an economic turnaround. Younger, college-educated workers were leaving in droves, and older residents were pessimistic about the region's future.
