What is the opposite of living off the grid?

The opposite is to be “plugged in” or “connected”.

Fifteen years ago I might have said “hard-wired”

Some people have smart homes, where everything is connected to the internet of things (lights, doors, heating and cooling, motion detectors, refrigerators, washer dryer, and complete entertainment). In my opinion, that can be a bit overwhelming. I like some things connected, but not everything.

Living on the grid is having a house, bank account, SS#, taxes filed. In other words, Big Brother knows who and where you are.

Quite literally your utilities originate off your property and you pay another party for them.

“Off the grid” isn’t what most people seem to think it is. “Off the grid” is a cabin out in the wilderness, miles away from anything at all, with no electricity, no running water, no sewer, no bank account and certainly no internet.

The opposite of living off the grid is exactly how most of the world is living today.

Unable to support themselves or their family in an emergency because they can’t access their money in a power failure. They can’t get gas. They don’t know how to grow food or perhaps how to hunt. They will steal to accomplish these things.

No, off the grid is not some hermit-like existence out in a cabin. The phrase has been appropriated by prepper types but it just means you are not connected to utilities, specifically power. It can also include water.

“but it just means you are not connected to utilities”

Which in this day and age pretty much means living a hermet-like existence out in a cabin.

No it does not. Plenty of people have well water and a septic tank along with solar and/or wind for electricity. That number is increasing and encroaching into suburban areas. Anyone in the suburbs can go off grid for electricity and a good number can also do water & sewer as well.
I have an out building off grid, my BIL is about to switch over to solar with a battery bank and he is in the city.

Sure, but there aren’t many municipalities that will legally allow you to have your property occupied unconnected, even if you are generating your own electricity.

Laws vary with some areas more restrictive than others. “Connected” usually just means you have an active meter connected. There need not be a single circuit on it though.

Amish I’ve off the grid, and quite a lot of them right next to people who are very connected.

I lived off the grid for a while. A man was crazy determined to chase after me. He kept tracking m e down. I finally went off the grid, moved to another town, and stayed off the grid. My pay was in cash. Where I lived was in someone else’s name. I had no accounts of any kind, government or utilities. It is not easy to do, but since then I see most families as living in excess.

The opposite? I knew a landlord who had hidden cameras covering many of his tenants.
He had internet from the first day it was available. He was able to converse with people aboard the space station.
He was creepy.
He was my first thought when I read this question.