In 1992, Councilman George Stevens campaigned against any official usage of the name "Southeast San Diego," since the designation had long been viewed as shorthand for the community as being crime-ridden and impoverished.

[6] The areas southeast of downtown San Diego include portions of Council Districts 4, 8 and 9 (Encanto Neighborhoods, Skyline-Paradise Hills, and Southeastern respectively).

[21] Lastly, in Bay Terraces and bordering Paradise Hills, there is a significantly high Asian-Pacific Islander (predominantly Filipino) population of 44.3% and 32.9%, respectively.

With the great influx of Filipino immigrants joining the United States Navy,[26] especially from the Vietnam War era on to the 1990s, many Filipinos inhabited the Southeast San Diego neighborhoods of Alta Vista, Bay Terraces, Paradise Hills, Shelltown, Skyline Hills, and Valencia Park, both for the relatively affordable housing prices and its close proximity to Naval Base San Diego.

[27] During the 1980s, in the interest of urban renewal, an unused tract of land (formerly a canyon) between the Skyline and Paradise Hills neighborhoods underwent development.

[30][31] Southeast San Diego had long struggled with an image problem plagued by street gangs, drug dealing, assaults, and homicide throughout its communities.

[32] Many of the inhabitants in these neighborhoods are working class or lower-income, and a typical sight that is evident throughout Southeast San Diego are homes outfitted with iron bars over the ground-floor windows and doors, and in many cases, cast-iron gates and chain-link fences guarding driveways, a reflection of the perceived need for security in these high-crime urban neighborhoods.

[34] Although crime has gone down citywide over the years, shootings are still a regular occurrence throughout Southeast San Diego, and the area continues to see a disproportionate number of homicides in relation to the rest of the city.

[43] Sections of Bay Terraces recorded the greatest percentage increase in violent crimes during a five-year period reviewed by the San Diego Union-Tribune.

[44] According to a study by Rand Corporation, homicides in Southeast San Diego share similar demographic characteristics with those in the Los Angeles Police Department's 77th Street Division (which serves South Central Los Angeles), though despite having 29 gangs appear in the San Diego Police Department's Southeast Division's murder files, only a handful of gangs appear responsible for the majority of gun violence that has occurred.

[45] In 2010, the Southeast San Diego neighborhoods of Logan Heights and Lincoln Park were featured on The History Channel's Gangland television series.

[49] The rash of violence in Southeast San Diego had been met with community outrage over the years and prompted a series of anti-violence marches and rallies.

Based on surveys area principals conducted with parents, violence is a big part of the reason why 70 percent of southeastern San Diego families opt for charters or schools in other neighborhoods.