> weinersmith's offered up a bunch of reasons why the eponymous city would never be possible

That wasn’t my read. They said there is scientific and engineering work to be done before we attempt colonisation. Work done more cheaply in LEO and on the Moon.

One that stood out is the lack of low-gravity trauma medicine. Another was the lack of an in-space toilet. (Since developed!)

That doesn’t mean we can’t do manned missions or even establish a base in the meantime. But it won’t be a colony. It will be a research outpost whose greatest ambition might be to resemble the ones we have in Antarctica.