Over the last two years Symes Avenue in Hartcliffe has been transformed.

Not so long ago the street was an angry scar running through the heart of the community.

Shops stood empty, boarded up and covered with graffiti, and just half a dozen stores were open for business.

But an injection of £20 million from supermarket giant Morrisons breathed life into the area and created a new shopping district.

Now Symes Avenue is once again the centre of Hartcliffe and the hub of the community, a bright and vibrant place that invokes pride among its residents.

The car parks are full, and throughout the day people congregate around shops such as Iceland, Boots, a post office, Ladbrokes, Greggs and the new hair and beauty salon The Local Gossip.

Overlooking the avenue are the council offices that provide services for people in Hartcliffe.

And next door is the @symes community resource centre and library, which provides a community bus, the South Bristol Advice Service, space for police and fire action groups and rooms for local organisations to rent. Chris Dabbs, a supervisor at the council, has witnessed the transformation of Symes Avenue.

He said: "Compared to a year ago it is a completely different world. Two years ago there were two rows of shops that were boarded up, with just Boots and Iceland making do.

"But Morrisons came along and spent £20 million to develop the Syme Avenue area. They knocked down the old shops, built the new store – which opened in November – and rebuilt the shop units.

"Now there are more people here in 10 minutes than there would have been in a whole day before the makeover.

"The arrival of Morrisons created 400 jobs, most of which went to local people, so for this area that is a significant amount of work. So where there is so much doom and gloom in the rest of the economy, there is so much going on in this part of south Bristol people here have a very positive outlook.

"This development has brought and awful lot of pride back into the area."

Meanwhile, across the other side of the city, Downend shopping parade has a wide variety of shops and, though quiet, there are few signs of the credit crunch biting.

There are no vacant properties in the area around Badminton Road and Downend Road, and a steady stream of customers.

Estate agents, convenience stores and charity shops make up the majority of the 20 or so businesses. But there are a few specialists to draw people in, among them a boutique, a florist and a local food shop.