I Have Questions for People Who Live in Skyscrapers

TikTok is littered with creators living many stories up in the air. As a ground-dweller, I'm confused.

By Kady Ruth Ashcraft | January 15, 2023 | 8:20pm

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I Have Questions for People Who Live in Skyscrapers

Earlier this week, I was walking through downtown Brooklyn when a man walking past me pointed up at an extremely tall high-rise, whose apex was clouded by, well, clouds. It looked ominous, like we were commuting around Gotham. “I’m obsessed with the vibes,” the man said to his friend as they passed. I stared up at the building, floors lit up in the darkening sky. Were these good vibes?

My TikTok is littered with creators posting their apartment tours and GRWM videos who live in sky-high apartments with floor-to-ceiling windows. Sometimes you can recognize where the person lives with a glimpse of the Chrysler building or a body of water; other times it looks just like a generic urban expanse. It just doesn’t feel normal for a person to live 40, sometimes 50 stories up in the sky, and I have questions.

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Do you live in one of these buildings? If so, do you feel like God? Is it scary being up so high? Can you feel the building sway? Is it isolating? I can’t tell if the clean aesthetic these apartments often have makes me think that they’re a bit sterile, or if it’s the thousand-feet-off-the-ground thing that’s making me uneasy.

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My tallest residence was a five-story walkup when I first moved to New York. There was no glamor to it. I was lucky enough to have a washer and dryer in the building, but they were in the unfinished basement that had dirt floors. Without an elevator, I lugged my laundry up all five flights of stairs. TikTok didn’t even exist back then.

Now, New York City’s tallest residential building is also the tallest in the country: Central Park Tower has 98 stories. As you’d imagine, most of these buildings are in New York, but Los Angeles, Houston, and Chicago harbor these giants as well.

@ssooophhia

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♬ original sound – Architectural Digest

I understand the appeal of these buildings: They’re usually stacked with amenities and in the center of downtown. If there isn’t an Equinox in the building, there’s one within a medicine ball’s throw. Aesthetically, they’re the perfect backdrop for luxury-minded urbanites who don’t want to walk amongst the riffraff. Rarely are any of these cloud-level apartments decked in vibrant colors—no, you’re getting neutrals, West Elm greys and blues, obviously a cashmere throw blanket artfully strewn across a couch, and large Bordeaux wine glasses displayed somewhere in the kitchen or dining area. Often a voluptuous sofa pushed up against a wall of windows looking out across the city.

They always look calm. Does being that high up in the sky feel like living in a spa? Because I know that every time I’m in an incredibly tall building, something in my bones (or probably inner ear) senses it. Does that go away? Do you always feel flighty? What must it be like to look out of your window and see people the size of ants? Does it give you a different perspective on life that I, as a groundling, can never have?

Seriously, please let me know.