High Optimism

Jill Stoner
University of California, Berkeley

This article addresses the following point of contention: “In 40 years, the average person will live closer to her neighbors and farther from the ground than she does today.”

Who is the average person? What is closeness? Where is the ground?

These questions are not rhetorical; they address the multiple paradoxes of our contemporary cities. Demographics of majority and average in the United States continue to evolve, challenging the paradigm of middle-class America that has been in place since the mid-20th century. The idea of proximity has been compromised and radically altered through social media; and the very notion of ground is a concept made precarious by advances in vertical agriculture, sky gardens, and elevated transit.