Ground Zero ten years on

A DECADE after the 11 September attacks enveloped Lower Manhattan in a thick grey dust, the surrounding area has become a trendy neighbourhood with a booming population.

Although an iconic part of the city skyline and a symbol of New York’s commercialism, some locals saw the Twin Towers as unattractive and out of scale with the surrounding area. Now, after the horror and rubble, a new community is growing.

“It feels like one of the happiest and most rejuvenated places in the city,” said Greg Boyd, 37, a lawyer preparing to move into a $4,000 (£2,480)-a-month studio in Frank Gehry’s new tower, five minutes’ walk from Ground Zero. “I’ve seen the area change from a sleepy commercial area to a family-friendly, young couple and single-friendly place.”

The neighbourhood – once dominated by bankers and traders who left each day after the closing bell of the New York Stock Exchange – is attracting high-profile media companies. Condé Nast, publisher of Vogue and Vanity Fair, will move into One World Trade Centre when it opens in late 2014.

With space and financial constraints curbing new building elsewhere, Lower Manhattan has become a centre of construction involving some of the world’s top architects,

Tiffany, Hermès and other high-end retailers have already opened in the area. By the time the new World Trade Centre opens, there will be more than half a million square feet of additional stores and restaurants. So far, $11.3 billion (£7bn) of federal money, mostly in direct aid and tax breaks, has been used to rebuild the area.