It is one of the poorer areas of Bristol, with significant social problems exacerbated by the decline of industrial employment in the city.

[3] In 1951, 696 acres (2.82 km2) of Bishopsworth parish were transferred from Somserset to Bristol,[4] and construction started in 1952 after the compulsory purchase of the farms on this land.

Hartcliffe and Withywood Community Partnership (HWCP) was formed by local residents in 1998 to help support the regeneration and renewal of the area.

Symes Avenue is the district shopping centre serving the outer estates of Hartcliffe and Withywood with a total population of around 20,000 people.

Around the same time, Liberal Democrat leader Paddy Ashdown claimed that health indicators in the area were comparable to those of a Third World country.