Vision for Holderness in 2015- Master Plan Document

A Vision for Holderness in 2015

Full Version (for Master Plan Document)

In 2004 Holderness remains a relatively rural community in central New Hampshire. We have a beautiful natural setting in and around Squam Lake. We treasure the undeveloped nature of our community, with its woods, its fields, and its many other natural assets. We like to use those assets, for hiking, for fishing, for hunting, for recreation. We cherish our access to the land, and to the water.

Holderness is a healthy, functioning social unit. We know and care for our neighbors. We have a good local government. We have a strong volunteer base. We participate in town meeting and in other public policy discussions. We exhibit a respect for the individual, and for a variety of perspectives.

Between Big and Little Squam Lakes, we have a functioning village core. We meet and greet our fellow citizens here, at the library, at the post office, over coffee at the store. The architecture here is pleasant and appropriate in scale. Increasing traffic is a concern, as is pedestrian safety. We need to work on those.

We are hosts to a tourist community, and we are comfortable with that. Many of our guests and visitors are not transients, but rather descendants of families who have summered with us for many years. We like that. We could do a better job of integrating them into our community. Perhaps a summer town meeting is in order, or some other event where we could discuss issues of common concern.

As noted with the traffic on Route 3, we are not without some problems. Real estate prices are high. Apartments and other rental units are few. That makes it difficult for young families, or those of modest means, to live here. That concerns us, as does the lack of employment opportunities. Those are issues that we need to work on as well.

Our vision for Holderness ten years out is that we will have succeeded, that we will have developed programs that permit some development, but which respect our natural and social environments, our ways of living here. We will have added some lower cost housing, some new jobs, and some new businesses in the village. But, we will have been able to retain those essential qualities that make Holderness such a great place to live, a safe place to raise our kids.