A few years back, Judy Land and Thomas Balatka met on Twitter, then at a local festival, then routinely on the subway. The two became fast friends, and soon learned they were neighbours, too — living one street over from each other in Bloordale.

For decades, the neighbourhood was best known for being a seedy stretch along Bloor St. West from Lansdowne Ave. to Dufferin St., frequented by drug addicts and strippers.

“I used to have people doing crack beside my house,” Land, 51, recalls. “I’d be looking out the window, and I’d see a man come by and disappear beside my house — like, what the hell? I’d run downstairs, and he’s doing crack.”

Walk through Bloordale today, and it’s a different scene: Hip coffee shops. Quirky antique shops. Bikes, everywhere.

Every month, it seems another business is opening or renovating, adds Balatka, 53, who helped form the Bloordale Community Improvement Association, along with Land, in 2013. The pair — acting as the Star’s Bloordale tour guides — have witnessed the community’s transformation first-hand, as Land has lived in the area since 2004 and Balatka since 2008.

“This is a neighbourhood that’s on the upswing,” Balatka says. “It’s just naturally happening.”

Coffee, karaoke and conversation

A café by day and a bar by night, Holy Oak Café on Bloor St. West is quiet on this weekday afternoon, as customers chat softly and tap away on their laptops.

Prior to its opening about seven years ago, Balatka says the only local place to get a cup of joe was a Coffee Time — a far cry from the Holy Oak’s diverse offerings, from weekly live bands to karaoke nights.

“This establishment marks the beginning of the neighbourhood’s changes,” Balatka says. “The owners here took a chance.”

A neighbourhood sandwich shop

Over the lunch hour, a steady stream of customers filters through Brock Sandwich, a new-ish spot that’s been on the block for two years.

People come for the crispy chicken sandwich smothered in house-made piri piri sauce, Yukon Gold french fries sprinkled with paprika, and the shop’s truffle oil take on poutine.

The space was previously a so-called “spa,” according to Balatka.

“This was so sketchy,” he says, motioning around the now-slick sandwich shop, with its up-cycled wooden finishes and hip branding. “When the boys took over, they gutted everything.”

Saying goodbye to sketchy storefronts

Quirky cards line the walls and colourful mobiles dangle from the ceiling at Shelley Town’s Bloor St. West paper shop, Town — which features plenty of Toronto-centric offerings and work from local artists.

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Opened in 2012, the vibrant little storefront replaced a dingy used-computer shop with bars on the windows.

“Computer shops and massage parlours are closing down, and places like Town are opening up,” says Balatka.

A cycling staple

For about two decades, Sweet Pete’s Bicycle Shop has been a neighbourhood staple for Bloordale’s cycling community. Its walls are lined with bicycles of all stripes — commuter bikes, road bikes, mountain bikes — and a line of customers mills around the tune-up area.

Cyclists are a growing group in Bloordale, says Land, who rides her bike through the neighbourhood on weekends.

“Everyone’s biking, everyone is wanting to bike, and these guys are great — they supply everything,” she says.

A haven for coffee-lovers

A hole-in-the-wall north of Bloor St. West on Brock Ave., Haven has been a hot spot for local java lovers for more than three years.

Under a canopy of bright red umbrellas, dog toys are strewn about the coffee shop’s little patio while customers sip on espresso.

Balatka says neighbours often pop by to play board games, too. “It’s a real hub for people,” he says.

Midwives move into Bloordale

Pregnant west-end women searching for a midwife gained a new option in late 2014 with the opening of a Bloordale outpost of the Midwives Collective of Toronto, a group practice providing community-based midwifery care since 1983.

Women come to the Bloor St. West clinic for all of their pre-natal and post-partum appointments, says clinic manager Kate Hunter.

And according to Balatka, it’s yet another example of how the neighbourhood is evolving.