Excerpt:

Beware of putting too much stock in glossy development plans, but if Treasure Island is reborn along the lines being touted, the result will be a neighborhood like none the Bay Area has seen.

Only about 110 of the artificial island's 404 acres will be urban, but they'll be filled with more than 7,000 housing units along streets where, for the most part, pedestrians have priority over cars. Land will be farmed alongside ball fields. Solar panels will cover more roofs than not.

And high-rises will sprout in the middle of the bay - as many as 25 rising at least 18 stories, crowned by a central tower that exceeds the height of the Bay Bridge by more than 100 feet.