I lived on the same street where 19 died in the Paris attacks.The terrorists choose a young, diverse district rather than the grand and rich

The attacks targeted Paris' progressive core. What my old friends told me from the scene was heartbreaking

Roadside memorial outside the Bataclan mourning the 89 music fans who died. (Ollie Craig)

The events of last Friday have left Paris in a state of shock. Many have said that the "young, progressive core" of the capital has been hardest hit. I agree. Two years ago, I was part of that core, living in a young person’s residence on the very same road as the bar in which 19 people were shot dead.

The residence provided affordable accommodation to a diverse range of 18-25 year-olds working or studying in the city. Some were Parisian; others came from the capital's suburbs or other parts of France; some came from overseas. We all shared a mutual love for the lively 11th arrondissement, and would spend Friday nights in La Belle Equipe and other bistros, sipping on beers in a melting pot of buoyant youth culture.

I remember attending a concert at the Bataclan just around the corner, filled with other twenty-somethings soaking up the live music before spilling out into the bars to continue the night. This part of the city felt pleasantly removed from the grand, rich and unaffordable Paris that most tourists know. This was where young Parisians really lived.

Hearing that this had happened in the district I got to know and love was a blow, but my grief cannot compare with the devastation that the atrocity has had my friends who still live there. On the night of the attacks, Milena, a 23 year-old Masters student, was in her apartment, just 200 metres from the Bataclan. She told me, "I was watching TV when I heard an explosion. At first I didn't know what it was. But then I saw what had happened on the news, and that it was just at the end of my road. I was on my own and terrified. I sat there in front of the TV and didn't dare to move from my sofa. I could hear sirens outside."

Kévin, 27, was working as a waiter not far from the attack at Le Carillon, and passers-by came in to take refuge after hearing gunshots.

He later heard that a waitress and barman at La Belle Equipe, situated just yards from his apartment, had been killed. "I'd always exchange a smile with them when I walked past," he said. "They were just doing their job. You don't expect this to happen.”

Charlie, 23, Clémence, 26, Amine, 28, had all been out in Paris, unaware until they returned home of the terror that had taken place so close by.

Over the weekend, Charlie went to the bars and cafés that were attacked. He told me, "We saw the impacts of the bullets, the sand covering the blood on the ground, the people. That's when I really took in what has happened.”

“I wouldn’t say it’s fear so much as a feeling of powerlessness. And a lot of sadness. I will try to continue life as normal, but I know I'll be more wary.”

Milena spent the weekend in the suburbs where her parents live. She was frightened to return, but knew she must, "We are all still terrified in Paris. We're scared to take transport again. But we must continue living as normal."

Ollie, 22, who recently moved from England to France and lives just ten minutes from the Bataclan, said he has noticed a lot of fear in Paris over the past few days.

"A lot of bars have been full, which has seemed to be a political statement of some kind," he said. "But with the false alarms we had over the weekend, I can see that slowly fading out."

"Because this attack was against civilians, rather than Charlie Hebdo which was obviously carefully executed on specific people, now everybody feels at risk. I know I will definitely be thinking twice about going out in the next fortnight or so."

But Clémence expressed her optimism, which she believes is shared with other young people in Paris. “My perception of Paris hasn’t changed. I went to the scenes of the attacks over the weekend. I am not afraid, it is my city.”

“We can’t stop living. That would make us trapped in fear and would mean they’ve succeeded in their mission. Young people are on the streets to pay tribute, they are still out drinking on the terrace, coming together to raise the morale back up.

“As long as there is life, there is hope.”

Hope is in abundance in the 11th - although many, like me, will continue to wonder why the terrorists were so quick to target the young, the diverse and the poor, rather than grand symbols of wealth which they profess to despise.