Since when did they up the ante? While most Americans are simply struggling to rent a place paycheck to paycheck, and can’t even think about buying anything, in their article Buying the American Dream, Forbes has now declared that the “American Dream” involves:
a nice, but not opulent, life–private schools for the kids, a large house in an upscale neighborhood, a weekend retreat, a pricey night out once a week, a couple of very nice cars
And it costs, too, to live their version of the American Dream out here in California, you’d have to be making nearly $370,000 per year—after taxes. By “large house in an upscale neighborhood” they mean a $3M house. By “weekend retreat” they mean another $950k for a house at Lake Tahoe. By “nice cars” they mean a BMW 325i and a Lexus RX 330. Who the hell dreamt up this version of the American Dream? When did it go from “a small house, maybe a couple of acres of land” to “a rich playboy’s life”? Oh wait, maybe this is only the dream of Forbes editors.
Thanks to Jeremy Zawodny for providing the link.
Jeremy Cole 
That’s pretty cool, I found your site from google looking for open source related material and got sucked into reading about your commute and San Jose. I grew up there right around the corner pretty much from where you are (around Bascom & Downing) and went to Del Mar High School right there by your Fruitdale lightrail stop. I’m currently living near Phoenix AZ since I couldn’t afford even the slightest hint of the American dream in California. I wish I could. I wish they would have had that light rail connection at Fruitdale when I was working at Cisco right before I decided to jump ship and leave my the state. Oh well, that’s life!