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 Clarence Eckerson Jr.
Complete Streets: It’s About More than Bike Lanes
Number of plays: 53,500
Publish date: May 9, 2011
Why is it here? Five years ago, protected bike lanes were still a relatively new thing in New York City. The press really did not know what to make of them -- for most part, local reporters stuck to a sensationalist narrative pitting cyclists against everyone else. This film was an attempt to show how protected bike lanes include design features that make streets safer for everybody (even drivers), and that they fit into a new approach toward streets that prioritizes walking, biking, and transit.
Fun fact: Essentially this film exists because NYC DOT and Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan were getting a tremendous amount of tabloid heat for street redesigns that were saving lives. It was absurd, and called for some countermeasures. The idea for this Streetfilm was to show how the new designs were making life better by speaking to people on the street.
The Streetfilms Countdown so far:
#12: Lakewood, Ohio: The Suburb Where Everyone Can Walk to School
#11: Mark Gorton Interviews Enrique Peñalosa
#10: Zurich: Where People Are Welcome and Cars Are Not
#9: Sneckdowns
