Your street is changing, and you might not even notice

Good morning, Vancouver. It’s a bit grey out there today, the kind of light that makes you want to stay inside with a good cup of coffee and watch the rain fall. But even on days like this, the city keeps moving, changing. Beautiful out here. Complicated in here. That's the coast.

Speaking of complicated, let's talk about what the city is actually building. According to building permit data released on March 18, 2026, Vancouver issued five new permits. The biggest one, Permit #BP-2025-02337, is for a $1,750,000 new two-storey Community Care – Class A building at 1682 Frances Street. That’s in Grandview-Woodland, not far from the Commercial Drive coffee crawl, if you know the area. It’s interesting to see that kind of specialized care facility coming online.

Then there's Permit #DB-2026-00185, a $376,615 laneway house at 135 West 39th Avenue, down in the Oakridge area. You see a lot of these popping up, a quiet revolution in density behind the main street. It’s part of how the city tries to fit more people in without tearing everything down, though it definitely changes the feel of those back alleys.

What does this tell us? We’re seeing a mix of targeted community infrastructure and continued gentle densification. It’s not always the big towers that reshape a neighbourhood; sometimes it’s these smaller, quieter projects. Keep an eye on how these new spaces integrate into their surroundings.

Kenji Nakashima, MiTL Sports Desk, Vancouver.

You know, the team on the Morning Wire show really digs into this stuff. Catch their take live at mornings.live.