The case for a western New Year's tradition

State of play: There's never been a major New Year's tradition that gives the western time zones an alternative to watching a replay of the ball drop in Times Square.

• It's a more than 77 million person-strong market opportunity just waiting to be filled.
• Yes, but: It's not all bad out here — our parties, by default, get to celebrate the new year's arrival a few times a night.

Driving the news: Las Vegas is making a go of it this year.

• Dick Clark Productions is launching a bicoastal expansion of ABC's annual "New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest" telecast, featuring "the first-ever live countdown from Las Vegas" and performances by acts including Lenny Kravitz, Billboard reports.

Flashback: Recognizing the void, civic activist Omar Passons — who later ran for county supervisor and is now a deputy city manager in San Jose — tried to make San Diego the epicenter of West Coast New Year's Eve a decade ago, but couldn't raise enough money early on to put momentum behind the effort.

• Passons wanted to emphasize the West's being one of the last places in the world to ring in the new year. He also considered using a potential celebration to elevate the region's tech industry, and he played with a cross-border laser show as the event's centerpiece.
• "My big takeaway is, done well and with the right partners, there is something interesting and fun that would allow the San Diego region to make a lasting mark," Passons told Axios. "Cities spend a lot more for a lot less."

The intrigue: We asked our Axios Local friends from other western states to make the case for their city as the best place for a New Year's celebration to call our own.

🏖️ San Diego: The contrast is too easy — freezing-cold East Coasters bundle up to smush themselves into a Manhattan intersection, while we take our celebration to the beach.

🏔️ Portland: Mount Hood is already majestic on its own. Add some sparkly fireworks behind her, and we're the clear winner.

🌵 Phoenix: We have all the best parts of Las Vegas (great restaurants, five-star accommodations and stunning desert views) with far less puke on the sidewalk.

🎆 Seattle: Fireworks at the Space Needle already make our New Year's celebration awesome. The rest of the West Coast is welcome to join in — though they'd likely miss out on the best view, which is from a boat.

• Watching fireworks sparkle over the water should become a core memory for all West Coast-ers.

🌉 San Francisco: We have the best parties, a vibrant food scene and an iconic bridge that makes a stunning backdrop to a dazzling fireworks display. Plus, the most number of hills and viewpoints to watch from.

👶 Salt Lake City's anti case: Utah has tons of little kids. It's just plain good strategy to turn on the countdown from Times Square, tell them it's midnight and distract them from clocks that read 10pm while ushering them to bed.

The bottom line: There's room for a western New Year's Eve to rival New York — or at least to make sure we don't have to live with leftovers.

Axios' Meira Gebel, Jessica Boehm, Melissa Santos, Nadia Lopez and Erin Alberty contributed to this story.