Holland is located approximately 35 minutes from Worcester, Springfield, and Hartford, CT
Source: www.mapquest.com
Holland is located in the French-Quinebaug watershed, which contains 26 towns in Massachusetts and Connecticut. This watershed is part of the Quinebaug and Shetucket Rivers Valley National Heritage Corridor, also known as the Last Green Valley. The Last Green Valley appears as the only dark spot on a satellite night image of the Boston to Washington DC corridor, as it is the least developed region in the northeast. Holland, was examined by the 2002 MLA Studio IV. This small town (year-round population: 2,500) has remained quite rural, and careful planning can help maintain this characteristic, despite increasing development pressures arising largely from the town's proximity to major highways.
A landscape plan was developed with two main focuses: 1) an inventory and analysis of the town's geological, hydrological, biological and cultural resources, and 2) future scenarios for the town, including an analysis of the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs (EOEA) Community Buildout and an Alternative Scenario developed by the students.
While the Buildout determined that approximately 70% of Holland is still available for development, the Alternative Scenario, which applied more stringent constraints and took into consideration the desires of community members, determined that only about 50% of the currently undeveloped land in the town is suitable for development. Four main strategies were recommended within the Alternative Scenario: open space linkage and protection; balanced residential development; tributary protection; and increasing recreation-based tourism opportunities to increase town revenue.
