NAMED for a jumble of railroad tracks, the Junction section of Toronto was once a booming manufacturing hub, with lively pubs, hotels and shops. But industry declined and, in recent decades, the neighborhood withered as prostitutes and drug dealers staked their turf along Dundas Street West, the area's main thoroughfare.

The pendulum, however, seems to be swinging back. Spurred by the hipification of other once-derelict districts like West Queen West, the young and artsy are taking advantage of still-cheap real estate to tiptoe into the Junction's empty storefronts and low-slung houses.

Block by block, they are transforming this stretch of Dundas Street West from a grimy skid row into a bright enclave filled with quirky bookstores, vegan restaurants and organic cafes.

 "Our retail strip is like a time warp," said Neill Cunningham, who opened the used bookstore Pandemonium in 2000 and moonlights as a D.J. "We've got these wonderful, family-run shops, but no chains."

Instead of porn shops, Dundas Street West is now lined with wholesome and organic food purveyors. "Younger families have moved in with small kids, so there's a demand," said Jeff Brown, who opened the candy store Delight Chocolates with his wife, Jennifer Rashleigh, a former chef.

A popular and affordable spot is Cool Hand of a Girl, a retro-style diner that serves comfort dishes like roasted chicken - free-range, local and organic, of course.

After dark, a cluster of new bars and lounges caters to the neighborhood's trend-setting arrivals. But the best time to visit may be in September, when a five-block section of Dundas Street West, between Keele Street and Quebec Avenue, closes for the Junction Arts Festival. The five-day jamboree of music and art began as a tiny indoor fair in 1992 and drew 250,000 people last year.

What's next for the Junction? Angus Crawford, who with his wife, Tracy, owns Rawlicious, sees a Canadian Venice, Calif., a crunchy-chic strip drawing yogis and skateboarders alike. "This could become the Abbot Kinney Boulevard of Toronto," he said

The New York Times

By MICHAEL KAMINER

Published: July 5, 2009