The State of World Trade Center Real Estate - TheStreet

That rents tend to be about 30% lower in the Financial District than in Midtown also adds attractiveness.

Despite worries of safety or otherwise, the residential population of Lower Manhattan has more than doubled since Sept. 11. Tourism has also boomed, and will continue to do so once the National September 11 Memorial & Museum open to the public this month.Unease about the safety of workers and residents has been another natural concern, particularly in the immediate time period following the terrorist attacks in 2001. "When everything went down and, quite honestly, we do audits on residents in the city, no one felt comfortable right afterward," Lagnado said, "insurance premiums went up for terrorist protection. But you have to move on with your life and live, and appreciate all the new security measures in the area. You have to have the attitude that it could happen anywhere. The answer is not to abandon the neighborhood."

More residents feed demands for more retail, too, Daniel Hedaya, president of New York City-based Platinum Properties, said. High-end retailers likeThomas Pink and Tiffany(TIF) already line Wall Street, with rumors of an Apple(AAPL) store or Whole Foods Market(WFM) coming to The Corner, a 140,000-sq. foot commercial space at the corner of Wall Street and Broad Street, directly across from the New York Stock Exchange. The newly opened Duane Reade(WAG) flagship store is "tremendous," Hedaya said, adding value and convenience to neighborhood residents and workers.

"Everyone is doing everything they can to ensure terrorist attacks won't happen again," Hedaya said. "People aren't living in fear because Manhattan is the best city in the world and everybody knows it."