I guess it depended upon your view as to whether or not you enjoyed the Firework shows that ushered in the New Year.  Usually for fireworks, you don't have to worry about being in the "right" spot.  But from the complaints we have received, this year was all about securing the right vantage point.

If you weren't as happy as you thought you would be from the sounds of things you weren't alone.  From the Las Vegas Review Journal:

New Year's Eve revelers had varied opinions about the fireworks show on the Strip, and their vantage points tended to sway their viewpoints.

"If you were in the right spot on the Strip, you saw a great show," said Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events. "If you weren't, you saw a somewhat-obstructed show."

Organizers of the $600,000 exhibit tried something new: shooting off fireworks from parking lots and garages instead of resort rooftops.

The decision was made after Clark County adopted new rules requiring a fire safety engineering inspection before pyrotechnics could be launched from a roof. Organizers decided the studies would be too time-consuming and costly.

Christenson said they will spend the next two months evaluating the show before determining whether to devote the time and money necessary to return the display to its old heights.

"We did our best to alert everyone about the show, and we'll just have to see to what extent people did or didn't enjoy it," he said.

Christenson already has heard the complaints from Las Vegas area residents who had no view of the New Year's Eve exhibit.

"Obviously, from the community they were disappointed in that there was no show for them," he said.

Courtney Scherer, 25, falls into that category. She and her fiance recently moved into a new home in the Henderson community of Seven Hills.

"We stayed home purposely because our house has an amazing view of the Strip," Scherer said Friday while standing outside the Fashion Show mall.

They invited another couple to fly out from Connecticut to watch the New Year's Eve fireworks with them.

"We could not see anything," Scherer lamented.

Scherer, who grew up in New York, said "it's always Times Square and Las Vegas" on New Year's Eve, but this celebration did not live up to her expectations.

Friend Tanya Dighello, 25, likened it to "an empty present."

Scherer said she hopes the next show will spring from the Strip resorts' rooftops again.

"I just think when it's this particular city, they should be spending the money on that," she said.

A group of Canadians also expressed disappointment in the New Year's Eve show as they stood outside a Strip gelato stand Friday.

Diane Schendel, 58, and her husband celebrated their sixth New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. This time, they brought along another couple, who experienced the event for the first time.

As the four watched outside the Flamingo Las Vegas, they could see only portions of the fireworks.

"The experience of celebrating New Year's in Las Vegas -- it's supposed to be the best place to go," said friend Diane Cross, 57.

Her husband, Laurin, also 57, said the changes in the show wouldn't stop the couple from returning. "It just diminishes the evening," he said.

Another Canadian, Brenda Rowe, spent her first New Year's Eve in Las Vegas and said it will be her last. But the decision had nothing to do with the fireworks.

Rowe, 47, and her live-in boyfriend, 44-year-old Andrew Hutchison, watched the display from their suite on the 21st floor of Bally's.

"I don't know if you could have gotten a better view than what we had," Hutchison said Friday as he shopped for souvenirs outside the Fashion Show mall.

Rowe said she won't come back because of all the smut that was flashed in front of her as she walked down the Strip.

"I was offended," she said.

Kevin Sproston, 25, and girlfriend Sophie Slater, 28, traveled from England to spend their first New Year's Eve in Las Vegas. They each paid $200 to celebrate at New York-New York's Rok nightclub but exited before midnight to experience the event at street level.

Both said they had a good view of the fireworks, although Slater "thought they could have gone on longer," and both thought higher would have been better.

Sproston said he enjoyed the fact that he witnessed the show for free.

"It's not uncommon to pay for fireworks in England," Slater explained.

Christenson, who watched the show from the Las Vegas Events command center atop the Rio, said the best vantage points were in front of the seven firing stations: Mandalay Bay, Luxor, MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, Treasure Island, the Las Vegas Convention Center and the Stratosphere.

"I think I saw a piece of every one of the displays," he said.

Christenson said money for the show came from the hotel tax, and because of that, "The first priority is the experience on the Strip."

He estimated that it would cost about $200,000 to complete the studies necessary to return the show to resort rooftops.

Christenson acknowledged that the lower display "wasn't nearly as dramatic as we've had in the past" for television viewers -- a fact that could hurt the "America's Party" brand.

"On the other hand, I think people give the fireworks too much credit for that," he added.

This year’s New Year’s Eve theme for “America’s Party,” as organizers have dubbed Las Vegas’ celebration, is “Takin’ It To The Streets.”

And they mean it literally.

Because of a regulatory change sparked by a fire at the Monte Carlo resort earlier this year, the massive New Year’s fireworks show will be launched from parking lots and parking garages, not the roofs of towering casino-resorts on the Strip.

“The issue with us changing the location was the new regulations that were put on firing the show from the rooftops,” said Michael Mack, director of marketing for Las Vegas Events.

In January, workers using a torch to cut corrugated steel started a fire on the roof of the Monte Carlo resort that ignited a type of decorative foam that’s found on several other Strip casinos. The fire forced the evacuation of the hotel’s guests and damaged rooms on the hotel’s top five floors.

Following that, Clark County officials “took another look at our policies and procedures to make sure everything was as it should be,” said county spokesman Dan Kulin.

That resulted in a new rule: “To have a fireworks launching site on a rooftop, they would have to hire a fire safety engineering firm to inspect the area,” he said. “It still is allowed. There’s just another step that they have to take.”

Event organizers did not mention the regulatory change at an event announcing New Year’s Eve plans Tuesday. Instead, they played up the fact that the fireworks will be closer to the audience.

“If you’re on the Strip in the right locations, you’re going to get a much better view of the individual fireworks than you have in the past,” said Pat Christenson, president of Las Vegas Events.

Felix J. Grucci, vice president and CFO of Fireworks by Grucci, put it this way: “When they’re on top of the roofs, they’re spectacular and it’s a wonderful panoramic view ... But this year we said, 'Maybe it’s time we brought the fireworks closer to the people so that we can make it part of the Strip, part of where the action is happening.’ ”

Viewing locations have been mapped out for the launch locations, which are the Mandalay Bay convention center lot, the Luxor’s parking lot, the parking garages at the MGM Grand, Caesars Palace, the Stratosphere and Treasure Island, and the Gold parking lot at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

There will also be a fireworks show under the canopy of the Fremont Street Experience downtown.

About 250,000 people are expected to ring in the New Year on the Strip, with another 30,000 flocking to Fremont Street’s stages and light shows.

“People are yearning for the opportunity to escape and to have a fantasy, and what better place to come to than Las Vegas, and what better time than New Year’s Eve?” said Las Vegas Mayor Oscar Goodman.

“I believe that this is going to be the start of a great year for Las Vegas. I believe that this is going to be the start of a comeback, as far as our economy is concerned.”

Vince Alberta of the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority ticked off a list of entertainers lined up for New Year’s Eve, including Kid Rock, Pink, Stone Temple Pilots, Carmen Electra, Usher, New Kids on the Block, the Kardashian sisters and Fergie.

There will be motorcycle stunts too — Robbie Knievel is set to attempt to jump the refurbished volcano at the Mirage, and Robbie Maddison will attempt to land his bike on top of the 96-foot-high L’Arc de Triomphe replica at Paris Las Vegas.

At the Rio, meanwhile, motorsports star Rhys Millen will attempt to be the first person to backflip a trophy truck — a goal that was derailed last year by a training injury.

The Fremont Street Experience is featuring a host of tribute groups on New Year’s Eve, including acts dedicated to the music of the Eagles, Billy Joel, David Bowie, KISS, Queen, the Rolling Stones and Aerosmith.

Admission is free for people 21 and older with a valid Nevada ID. Otherwise, tickets are $20.

A young showgirl shows off while sitting on the diving board of the pool at the fabled Sands Hotel.

Here at Classic Las Vegas we realize that the Holidays are almost here. If you have friends or family who love history (especially 20th Century Las Vegas history) we hope we can help with some gift ideas:

In the last year, we have helped save the Huntridge Theater by working with the Save the Huntridge grass roots organization and the property owner to help ensure that the 1940's Charles Lee facade does not get destroyed.

We helped save Las Vegas pioneer Charles "Pop" Squires house from being destroyed by developers.

Brought attention to the destruction of the Las Vegas High School neighborhod. This neighborhood is on the Historic Register and yet, houses keep getting destroyed for McOffices.

We worked with the Atomic Age Alliance and VeryVintageVegas to try and save Maude Frazier Hall, the first building on the campus of UNLV.

We participated in various Historic Preservation Month activities as well as the Historic Preservation gathering in Boulder City this past summer and the inaugural Historic Preservation Summit this past October.

Ways you can help us continue to do good works:

1. Give a friend or loved one a year's membership (it's tax-deductible) for the Friends of Classic Las Vegas. Our group is dedicated to helping preserve the 20th Century history of Las Vegas. We hold monthly meetings and work with other community groups to help preserve not only buildings and signs of our past. Through our Archive Project, we are the one group dedicated to helping preserve the stories and memories of the men and women who helped build Las Vegas into the Entertainment Capital of the World and make the Las Vegas of today possible.

To become a member or give the gift of membership click here:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/join-today-become-a-fclv-membe/

2. Make a tax-deductible donation to the Friends of Classic Las Vegas. We know that times are tough and the economic crisis is at the forefront of everyone's thoughts. But historic preservation is important to support even in these lean times. Your contribution helps save Las Vegas history and we all know how important that is.

To make a tax-deductible donation to the FCLV click here and scroll down to the middle of the page:

http://classiclasvegas.squarespace.com/join-today-become-a-fclv-membe/

The Friends of Classic Las Vegas is a recognized 501c3 non-profit organization dedicated to preserving Las Vegas history.

3. Do you enjoy this site and all the history that we have written about? The History of Fremont Street, the History of the Original Strip Hotels, the photo galleries, the historic entries? We hope you do and you can help support this site by making a donation. We try to update this site every couple of days with interesting stories not only on preservation issues and historic sites but on what is happening in modern Las Vegas as well. We try to include photos, especially the historic ones, as often as we can. In the new year, we will be posting video clips and podcasts as well from our historic Archive project. This site is, as you can imagine, labor and time intensive but we try to bring the real history of our town to our audience. We appreciate the time that people spend here as well as the comments they leave for us.

You can help us by making a donation today for the maintenance, care and handling of this site by clicking here: (scroll down to the donation button)

http://www.classiclasvegas.com/contribute/contributors.htm

4. Buy our DVDs! They make great gifts for anyone interested in the real history of Las Vegas. "The Story of Classic Las Vegas" is a first-person narrative documentary that lets the men and women who made the history here tell the story.

http://www.classiclasvegas.com/coolstuff/forms/merch_order.htm

The "Tribute to Don English" is a wonderful look into the photographer who snapped many of the photos that not made Las Vegas but many of the ones in our collective memory.

http://www.classiclasvegas.com/coolstuff/forms/merch_order.htm

Whether it's for the holidays, birthdays or any special occasion, give the gift of history. You won't regret it. We've got some great things coming up for this site in the New Year and we look forward to sharing them with you! If you haven't subscribed to the site, please do so you don't miss out on all the great historic information we have coming up!

Hard to believe that at one time the Las Vegas Strip was small enough for just one exit off

the new interstate highway.  And a mighty confusing one at that.  Ahh, for the days of 1969.

Photos courtesy of Life Magazine/Google Archive