What's New in Lynnwood This Fall: First Cannabis Shop, a Finished Trail, and the Holidays Ahead

Lynnwood keeps changing faster than most cities its size, and whether you live here or are weighing a move, it pays to know what is actually happening. This is the useful stuff, current as of late October 2026, pulled from the city's own pages, Sound Transit, and local reporting.

Lynnwood's first cannabis shop is open

The city council voted 5-2 in September 2025 to lift the decade-old ban on retail cannabis sales, clearing the way for up to four licensed shops in designated commercial zones. The first one opened on April 20, 2026: Starbuds Cannabis Co., and Mayor George Hurst described the change as years in the making. It is a shift that took Lynnwood from one of the last holdouts to a city that is finally letting this retail category operate above board.

New places to eat

• Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers opened June 23, 2026 at 1232 164th Street SW. It is the chain's first Snohomish County location, its fourth in Washington, and the first Seattle-area outpost with a double-lane drive-thru. See raisingcanes.com.
• Supreme Dumplings opened a Lynnwood location at 3000 184th Street SW, in the H Mart and Alderwood corridor. It is the dumpling chain's sixth Washington location and landed on this year's list of notable new Seattle-area restaurants.

Neither of those is a small neighborhood joint, but both are signs that national operators see Lynnwood's traffic and incomes, and that the dining scene keeps adding options beyond the long-standing Highway 99 and 196th Street favorites.

The Scriber Creek Trail connection is finished

On September 8, 2026, the city cut the ribbon on Scriber Creek Trail Phase 3, completing the trail's redevelopment from 200th Street SW through Scriber Lake Park and across SR 525 to Wilcox Park. For walkers and cyclists, that closes a gap that used to dead-end at the highway and stitches together the lake park with the neighborhoods east of the freeway.

The parks department's capital plan also has Maple Mini Park in northeast Lynnwood next for a new play area, ADA access, and picnic amenities, with lighting and dugouts at Meadowdale Playfields slated for 2026 through 2027.

Both light rail lines now end at Lynnwood

Since March 28, 2026, when Sound Transit opened the Crosslake Connection, Lynnwood City Center has been the western terminus of the 2 Line as well as the northern terminus of the 1 Line. In plain terms, the same station puts you one train from downtown Seattle and one train to downtown Redmond, which is a real change for Eastside commuters.

For riders eyeing Everett, the next step is moving: the Everett Link Extension's draft environmental impact statement opened for public comment on September 18, with the comment period running through November 2, 2026, and a final public hearing in Lynnwood was held on October 21. The current plan phases the extension in between 2037 and 2041, so nobody should time a home purchase around it, but the route is firmly in the pipeline.

One timing note: the farmers market planned for the station plaza did not launch this summer. The inaugural season is now set for Sundays, June 6 through August 29, 2027, at the station plaza on 46th Avenue W and 200th Street SW, with details on lynnwoodfarmersmarket.com.

Housing policy and the City Center pipeline

The council has spent 2026 updating the zoning code to allow more middle housing: condensing single-family rules into a new residential neighborhood zone, cutting parking minimums, and phasing in preapproved ADU plans, with a developer roundtable in September to work out what is still in the way. That matters for buyers because it points to more duplexes, cottages, and small multifamily in neighborhoods that are currently all single-family homes.

Near the station, a 294-unit affordable building, Polaris at Lynnwood, was proposed this summer at 20800 44th Avenue W, and Sound Transit's Housing Hope site plans 167 affordable units on 2.4 acres it sold next to the station, with construction possible late this year once financing closes. The big mixed-use plans are slower: Northline Village is stalled in the civil phase by construction costs, and The District around the Event Center is being built out in phases through the early 2030s.

Events to put on the calendar

• Dia de los Muertos, hosted by WAGRO with the city, on Sunday, November 1.
• Holiday Boutique Craft Show, November 12-14, at the Lynnwood Event Center.
• Lynnwood's Christmas tree lighting, early December at Silver Creek Family Church, 5326 176th Street SW; the exact date was still being finalized as of late October.
• Lynnwood Laughs comedy night with Andrew Rivers, December 6, at the Event Center.
• Jingle Bell Breakfast and Craft Fair on December 13, and the Lynnwood Christmas Fair and Market on December 20, both at the Event Center.

The Living Colors quilt exhibit also runs at the Event Center through December 11, which is a good excuse to see the new venue if you have not yet.

Bottom line

Between the new shops, the finished trail connection, the second rail line, and a holiday calendar with real downtown events, Lynnwood has more going on than at any point since the station opened. If you are thinking about buying here, read the fall market update too, because the market cooling is the other half of the story.