In the world of Concrete and Steel, people equate things with how close or how far things are and establish importance to things by a sliding rule. Of course this all depends on the person and their views of what's important or what is trivial. There is an old adage of Never letting one's reach exceed their grasp, but how does one know the distance of one's reach and the strength of one's grasp.
Phrases like "S(he)'s out of your league.", "I wouldn't touch that with a ten foot pole", "They are worlds apart", "They are from two different sides of the tracks." and "He's in his own world." all have to do with the implication of distance or of the isolation of distance. When a person decides on these implications and isolations, they establish distances for themselves and others that interract with them.
The main thing that dictates distance with us is the mind and how we sense things in our world. Take for example the ten feet of that aforementioned pole. I am not the fastest guy around but I can cover ten feet quite rapidly. That pole doesn't stand a chance if I had to cross that small distance. Tracks and worlds don't hold any less challenges for me either. A well trained mind will always find a way to make the Tracks be used by both sides to meet and to render the gulfs between worlds close enough for whispers.
Distance is just an illusion. Near... or far is just what you make of it.