Excerpt:

As the immense Treasure Island project nears its final set of approvals, there's deserved scrutiny of issues like safety, transportation and the benefits the public should receive in return for allowing $1.5 billion of construction in the middle of San Francisco Bay.

The danger is that politics will obscure the larger issue if the project is approved: What gets built can't be business as usual or we'd be better off doing nothing at all. The design approach offers a tantalizing view of what urban life today could be, and that's exciting. But it's a blueprint, not a guarantee of success.