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Countdown: The 12 Most Influential Streetfilms of All Time

With the 10-year benefit for Streetsblog and Streetfilms coming up on November 14 (get your tickets here!), we are counting down the 12 most influential Streetfilms of all-time, as determined by the impresario himself, Clarence Eckerson Jr. The countdown starts with the second-most-viewed Streetfilm ever.

Lakewood: The Suburb Where Everyone Can Walk to School

Publish date: April 28, 2014

Number of plays: 470,000 (second all-time)

Why is it here? This Streetfilm struck a nerve with people across the United States, perhaps because many people can still remember walking or biking to school when they were kids, or wish their children could do it safely today. In Lakewood, where the city has preserved and actively encourages walking to school, you can see what the trip to class and back home was like when most students did it on foot.

Fun fact: This film nearly didn’t happen. Why? I was in Cleveland to shoot video for three days, and it rained almost the entire time — except from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. on this day!

Photo of Clarence Eckerson Jr.
Clarence Eckerson Jr. has been running Streetfilms for two decades after serving as a producer of BikeTV. He loves the color purple, chocolate chip cookies, and enjoys walking, biking, and taking transit. He has never had a driver's license. But he does have an award from the U.N. (yes, that U.N.!)

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