As we commemorated the tenth anniversary of 9/11, the nation looked back on the upsetting events of that day. Through the last decade we’ve been at war and our nation has tried to move on.
While we can’t forget the images from that fateful day, what might not cross our minds are all the people who were forced to relocate from the southern tip of Manhattan in the days after. In fact, more than 20,000 people were displaced because of the 9/11 attacks. Many of those that moved away in those days never went back.
However, plenty of people did move back to the area known as Battery Park City – in fact, the population of Lower Manhattan has at least doubled in the past ten years. In the days before September 11, 2001 the population of the area was 22,961. Today, more than 56,000 people live there. The very tragedy that brutalized the neighborhood is the same that served as the catalyst for its rebirth.
After the attacks, it would be more than a month before residents of Lower Manhattan could move back into their homes. Once they did return, National Guardsmen were posted almost everywhere, which could be a little intimidating for those residents already traumatized. It was this that made even more people decide to move away.
The once-quiet neighborhood is now a happening place to move. This is partially because the city went to great lengths to reinvigorate the area via tempting tax exemptions, great prices, and redevelopment projects. As time went on, Battery Park City became even more desirable than it once was.
Lance Grooms
