Are space colonies actually coming?

Permanent settlements beyond Earth emerge gradually across this century. I predict commercial space infrastructure, lunar operations, and eventually Martian outposts become realistic, while the engineering stays immense. I treat it as a multi-decade buildout, not a press release, and I have skin in the game: $500,000 into SpaceX in 2018. Whoever owns the road to space collects the toll on everything that follows. The Moon becomes the proving ground. Mars becomes the long bet. Both are serious projects now, not daydreams.