(FORTUNE Small Business) – Ah, Steel City: home to Kordell Stewart, pirogies, and now the not-so-minimum wage. This month Pittsburgh becomes the 80th municipality to adopt a "living wage." Its version is particularly aggressive; while most cities--like Boston and Baltimore--apply their living-wage legislation only to city contractors, Pittsburgh will nearly double the minimum wage for any business that receives economic assistance or provides goods or services to the city. If the mayor's office doesn't amend the law, some business owners say they could be up the Monongahela without a paddle.

--Sasha Smith