O'Neill was overoptimistic about launch prices coming down in the near term and about the economic case for solar power satellites and for people in space to mine the materials and build and maintain the powersats, etc. But as I remember it this community made a good case that you don't need planets to live on; with their gravity wells and atmospheres and night/day cycles they're mostly a big nuisance compared to free-space habitats built with lunar and asteroid materials.
O'Neill was overoptimistic about launch prices coming down in the near term and about the economic case for solar power satellites and for people in space to mine the materials and build and maintain the powersats, etc. But as I remember it this community made a good case that you don't need planets to live on; with their gravity wells and atmospheres and night/day cycles they're mostly a big nuisance compared to free-space habitats built with lunar and asteroid materials.