[LouisVanDerWright]

Gates buying a mansion is just that, another wealthy parent making an investment for their kid while they attend a fancy school. It's a $1.5 million investment in the city, small potatoes.

The real news with that is that Gates is just the most visible person to buy in that area recently. Let's remember the previous president of the USA also owns property there. If anything it's evidence that the South Side can attract the big money just as well as Lincoln Pakr and that intitutions like U of C are huge positive forces for a city. Think of how many U of C students are in the same boat, hedge fund daddy wants kids to be comfortable while they get a better than ivy education...

Point being, this is a tiny investment by Gates, but if you assume even 1% of U of C students are in a similar boat, that's almost 150 mansions at any given time occupied or owned by 1%ers who want to pamper their kids while they are in school. In the aggregate that's a huge effect just from U of C, not even considering all the "lesser" educational institutions Chicago has. When I went to Loyola I knew tons of people whose parents bought then a gold coast condo or condo in Edgewater.