It seems typical of Pittsburgh that the city’s grandest spaces are in warehouse and industrial districts. This broad plaza, seen from St. Stanislaus Kostka church on 21st Street, is the heart of the wholesale-food business in Pittsburgh. In the last two decades it has also become a popular nightclub district. The wholesale business begins to pick up just as the clubs close in the small hours of the morning.

Smallman Street in the Strip is lined on one side with an odd combination of wholesale food outlets and trendy nightclubs. The other side is one long, low building that houses many wholesale produce dealers.