One of Chicago's most famous real estate people weighed in this week on the real meaning of the American dream.
Once defined as home ownership (though the soft definition could be expanded greatly), Real Estate Mogul Sam Zell defines the dream very broadly as "freedom."
"The American Dream is freedom, not a house," he told a crowd at the Peninsula Chicago Hotel on Wednesday night.
Certainly that's one way to interpret the data, as the so-called Millennials appear largely absent from the real estate market. They've also pushed up both the prices and the available inventory of high-end rental apartments.
But there are also recent signs that, like this Chicago Tribune report from January 2015 that interviewed several Millennials and found that, while they're delaying traditional life choices like marriage and children, they are eventually choosing them and, along with those decisions, they're also choosing home ownership.
For the story on Sam Zell, head to Crain's here.
