XOprincess and greeklettergirl-
i definitely suggest going. it helps to put things into perspective. it looks much different now than 6 months ago. it used to be 4 stories above ground of debris, now it's like 6-8 stories below ground level. you really can't get anywhere near the site unless you know someone (like i did). you can go to the observation towers, but even those are far but offer the best view. standing on the sidewalk, you can't see anything but empty air space. you can see the pit from the observation towers though. emotionally, i think it is something that everyone should see. i just stood there with my mouth open, frozen in one spot, while my friend's dad explained everything.
just to add to my original post--tower 2 is almost completely cleared. just a small pile left. there's still plenty to tower 1 left. building 5 and 6 are still big piles of debris. what they do is a crane lifts big sections of debris into a pile while firefighters check the original pile for bodies. then other firemen check the smaller pile with a rake to check for bones. they they move that pile to another and it is checked again, this time more thoroughly. after that it is moved to the "clean" pile which is brought to the staten island dump for more testing. my friend's dad said that work is going much slower now since they're really trying hard to find body parts. the families are giving them a hard time that they aren't finding enough, but there's not much they can do about it. unfortunately, not much is left.
also, the site is in a "bathtub" with 4 retaining walls keeping out the river. the reatining walls have been leaking and on the verge of collapse. the river is seeping through the bottom of the site, since they are so far underground, and they have to put wooden beams there so they can walk. they are putting "trumpets" all over the walls to secure them. it looks like a square piece of concrete with a wire sticking straight out the middle.
i hope my descriptions are helping those of you that live far away and don't know what is going on at the site. that is my intention of the post.