First in an occasional series exploring Essential Pittsburgh. Jacqueline Wardle was working as the executive chef at Isabela on Grandview, a Mt. Washington restaurant, when she received a beguiling email: Instead of working for someone else, did she want to own her own restaurant?

Behind The Scenes At Smallman Galley, Pittsburgh's Restaurant Incubator

An ongoing series about how Pittsburgh lives and how it's evolving, from the newsroom of 90.5 WESA, Pittsburgh's NPR news station.

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Finish line logistics captain Brian Schmidt is in the thick of it now. All last month he categorized and readied a behemoth assortment of race-day paraphernalia across two floors of a Strip District U-Haul facility. Today, he’s a walking ledger for pallets of road cones, fruit cups, Vaseline and mylar spread over 14 neighborhoods in dozens of tarp-covered, plywood boxes.

Meet The Mathematical Muscle Behind The Pittsburgh Marathon

Jerry Kraynick bends at the waist, hands on hips, and peers over his glasses. He gestures towards a bike. “Throw it up on the stand, and I’ll look at it.”

Garfield Bike Shop Owner Says He's Ready To Retire And Pass On The Tools

Two part-time workers stood on either side of a T-shaped conveyer belt as 61-year-old Joe Spaniol moved down its twin trunks, trading full boxes with empty ones when its contents started to overflow.

Carnegie Libraries As Literary Preppers: How Your Favorite Sleuths Predict Demand

For decades, contractors demolishing old buildings in Pittsburgh knocked them through the sub-flooring and filled in the holes with whatever was left behind. Debris, support walls, bricks and even appliances -- all topped off with dirt.

Redeveloping A Vacant Lot In Pittsburgh Can Be Full Of Refrigerator-Sized Surprises

Gina Merante grabbed a banana bunch from a red wall lined with gradually ripening fruit. She shuffled past boxes of apples and red peppers and pointed outside, past the large display window at the front of her store, Linea Verde Green Market .

Behind The Scenes At Smallman Galley, Pittsburgh's Restaurant Incubator

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