Being an Oaklander sometimes feels like being in love with a jerk. We’ve all been there, right? You can see nothing but his charms through your lust addled eyes but your friends and family are saying: WTF? In law school in San Francisco in the nineties, I overheard a fellow student say, “I’d never live in a suburb like Oakland.” Ouch. It sucks to hear what people really think of your lover. But in reality, Oakland has never depended on the larger city across the bay for its identity. Only San Franciscans compare Oakland to SF. Oakland’s had an image problem my entire ...