Hey, I wouldn't call it a pipe dream cultivated by scam artists. Mars has appeal purely for the exploration - just like any other planet. Humans will surely set foot on Mercury too if we don't eliminate ourselves sooner. Mars will never be terraformed and terraforming Mars is a terrible idea. But a reasonable sized human settlement for scientific purposes with a decent number of orbital habitats is in the cards. Over time, I expect most people living within Mars SOI will be living in orbit and perhaps going down to the surface to work.