South San Diego is a district within the

City of San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...

, and is in the larger South Bay region of southwestern San Diego County, California. South San Diego is a practical exclave of San Diego, having no land connection with the rest of the city. It is the only part of the city which borders

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. South San Diego includes four of the city's official community planning areas: Otay Mesa, Otay Mesa-Nestor, San Ysidro, and the

Tijuana River Valley The Tijuana River Valley is a rural community in the southern section of San Diego, California. It neighbors Imperial Beach to the north and west, Egger Highlands and Nestor to the north, San Ysidro to the east, and the U.S.-Mexico border to the ...

History

Before the arrival of the Spanish explorers, area of South San Diego was inhabited by the

Kumeyaay people The Kumeyaay, also known as Tipai-Ipai or by their historical Spanish name Diegueño, is a tribe of Indigenous peoples of the Americas who live at the northern border of Baja California in Mexico and the southern border of California in the Unit ...

. The Kumeyaay, also later known as the ''Diegueño'', traveled the region. This is evidenced by the shallow depressions in boulders that were used for grinding acorn into meal, that are found throughout the area. Silver Wing Monument, San Diego, California

Silver Wing Monument, San Diego, California

John J. Montgomery John Joseph Montgomery (February 15, 1858 – October 31, 1911) was an American inventor, physicist, engineer, and professor at Santa Clara University in Santa Clara, California, who is best known for his invention of controlled heavier-than-air ...

achieved the first controlled flight with a heavier-than-air flying machine in the United States when he successfully flew three

glider aircraft A glider is a fixed-wing aircraft that is supported in flight by the dynamic reaction of the air against its lifting surfaces, and whose gliding flight, free flight does not depend on an engine. Most gliders do not have an engine, although mot ...

designed in the period 1883-1886 from Otay Mesa. A monument to his historic flights is known as Silver Wing Park, located on Coronado Avenue, just east of Beyer Boulevard. The Interstate 5 freeway in this region was later named the

John J. Montgomery Freeway Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, stretching from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro crossing to the Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. The segment of I-5 in Ca ...

in his honor. In 1957, the area comprising South San Diego was annexed by the City of San Diego, from unincorporated

San Diego County San Diego County (), officially the County of San Diego, is a county in the southwestern corner of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 3,298,634, making it California's second-most populous county and the f ...

. On July 18, 1984, in an event known as the

San Ysidro McDonald's massacre The San Ysidro McDonald's massacre was an act of mass murder which occurred at a McDonald's restaurant in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego, California, on July 18, 1984. The perpetrator, 41-year-old James Huberty, fatally shot 21 peop ...

, James Oliver Huberty, a 41-year-old former welder from Canton, Ohio, committed a mass-murder of 21 people inside a

McDonald's McDonald's Corporation is an American multinational fast food chain, founded in 1940 as a restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald, in San Bernardino, California, United States. They rechristened their business as a hambur ...

restaurant in San Ysidro. The McDonald's site was razed in 1985. The site is now home to a Southwestern College satellite campus.

Geography

South San Diego is within the southern area of the

, in far southwestern

. Land-wise, it is physically separated on land from the rest of the city of San Diego by the cities of National City and

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popu ...

. However it and the rest of San Diego are connected by a -wide city boundary line that runs through San Diego Bay. South San Diego's boundaries are the city of

Imperial Beach Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imperial, Texas ...

on the west, Chula Vista to the north, Otay Lakes to the east, and the U.S.-Mexico border with

Tijuana Tijuana ( ,"Tijuana"
(US) and < ...

on the south.

Brown Field Municipal Airport Brown Field Municipal Airport is in the Otay Mesa neighborhood of San Diego, California, United States, southeast of Downtown San Diego and named in honor of Commander Melville S. Brown, USN, who was killed in an airplane crash in 1936. Its m ...

is located in the

Otay Mesa Otay Mesa ( ) is a community in the southern section of the city of San Diego, just north of the U.S.–Mexico border. It is bordered by the Otay River Valley and the city of Chula Vista on the north; Interstate 805 and the neighborhoods of Oc ...

region of South San Diego.

Demographics

As of 2010, the population of South San Diego was 107,631, or 8.2% of San Diego's total population. This breaks down into 65,435 people in Otay Mesa-Nestor, 28,707 in San Ysidro, 13,446 in Otay Mesa and 43 in the Tijuana River Valley. The ethnic makeup was 12.9% non-Hispanic White, 11.7% Asian/Pacific Islander, 4.6% Black and 2.5% Other. 68.1% of the population was Hispanic or Latino of any race. The median household income varied significantly by neighborhood. In Otay Mesa it was $97,694, in Otay Mesa-Nestor $54,776, and in San Ysidro $32,800.

Neighborhoods

Neighborhoods of South San Diego are defined by the City of San Diego. The City of San Diego groups these neighborhoods into larger sections for planning purposes. Otay Mesa, Otay Mesa West and Ocean View Hills are combined as Otay Mesa. Nestor, Egger Highlands and Palm City are combined as Otay Mesa-Nestor. San Ysidro and Tijuana River Valley are not grouped. *Otay Mesa-Nestor - 65,435 ** Egger Highlands ** Nestor ** Palm City * San Ysidro - 28,707 *Otay Mesa - 13,446 **

** Otay Mesa West ** Ocean View Hills *

- 43

Education

Primary and secondary schools

South San Diego is served by the Sweetwater Union High School District. In addition to the schools listed below, there are 13 public elementary schools. Seven are part of the South Bay Unified School District and six are in the San Ysidro School District.

High schools

* Montgomery High School * San Ysidro High School * Southwest High School *

Mar Vista High School Mar Vista Senior High (MVH), in Imperial Beach, California, United States, is a high school established in 1951. Mar Vista has an award-winning marine science academy called Poseidon. Students spend grades 9-12 in the academy. It is frequently ...

Middle schools

Mar Vista Middle School

Nestor Language Academy Charter School

Montgomery Middle School

Southwest Middle School

References

External links

South San Diego Community Profile - City of San Diego
{{Neighborhoods of San Diego Neighborhoods in San Diego South Bay (San Diego County) Geography of San Diego