I have always lived in homes with chain link. I like being able to have a (almost) unobstructed view. Chain link lasts for decades.
My family bought a newer home with a wood privacy fence for my mom. I feel claustrophobic in the tiny backyard. There isn’t room for even a 8x10 shed. It would be so much more pleasant if there weren’t 8 ft privacy, fencing. The first repair at the house (built in 2012) was replacing the fence. Many of the posts were already rotted by 2019. We had to rebuild the same privacy fence.
An nicer option to chain link is metal fencing with vertical slats, like this:
Chain link can have a cheap look. Metal fences like this have a more elegant appearance and allow visibility. Also, the black color will not stand out as much. It will be less visible than a silver chain link fence would be.
My house has both. There is no fence in the front of my house, but the rest of the yard is ringed by fencing.
I live on a corner, and a fairly busy street runs along the north side of my property; the fence on that side is a 6-foot-high wooden (cedar) privacy fence; it’s absolutely for privacy, given that busy street on that side.
Along the east side of the yard is an alley (and my garage), and the south side borders on my neighbors’ house; on those sides there is a 4-foot chainlink fence, which works well for its purpose.
There are also brick and block walls. And hedges. And fences that look like traditional wooden posts & pales, but are made of vinyl and last decades. And there’s Trex. And …
I didn’t vote because my choice would be “whatever type of fence is ubiquitous in the neighbourhood”, as neighbours tend to build the same types of fences as new houses spring up. It may be more varied in older neighbourhoods.
My current house, like all houses in the immediate neighbourhood, has fairly high wooden privacy fences. I’m fine with that.
Chain link doesn’t have to be silver. Residential chain link is available in coloured coatings like green that blend in with the environment. It wouldn’t be my first choice by any means but it’s practical and inexpensive.
My step-father was an independent wrought iron designer and fabricator. I spent many a summer installing the stuff. It has a great look but it requires frequent painting and that part is a bitch once it is outdoors. The best bet is an electrostatic paint sprayer but they are fussy bastards that clog up and become useless with even the lightest wind. Gimme a good plank wood fence any day.
In the region where I live, wood (or facsimile) privacy fences are pretty much the norm for backyards, and if there’s any fencing in the front it’s usually picket, split-rail, or some other more decorative style. Wrought iron isn’t common probably because it’s so expensive, but in weathier areas it’s almost required to keep up with the Joneses. My bias is that chain link is for poor neighborhoods. I know that’s not a truth, but it is definitely an unconscious bias of mine due to years of observation. Our son, for instance, lives in a very windy area where chain link is ubiquitous. Wood fences get blown down within just a few years.
Where I live (San Francisco) the usual lot width is 25 ft, so back yards are small, and they (virtually) all have fencing on all three sides. Ours is chain link 5 ft tall on the two sides (here when we moved in) and wood 6 ft tall across the back (which I have replaced twice due to rotting). If the back fence rots again while I am still living here I will have to hire someone to deal with it, I am no longer up to the job.
I don’t mind the chain link on the sides, but I’m glad not to have to look at the mess in the back yard of the house behind. It’s a rental and the back yard hasn’t been touched in years, it’s only used so dogs can poop in it. They let their fence rot into the ground, and even dragged big pieces of it out of their yard and dumped them in the back of the house next door to them, where an old lady lives who never goes out back any more. Bastards.
My daughter’s HOA isn’t very restrictive, but they require that if you put up a fence in the back yard, it has to be black chain link. They have large connected backyards, almost like a park, and they reason that wood privacy fences would break up the view.
It’s interesting that in some parts of the country the single-family housing parts of local suburbia demand tall opaque fencing, while others demand low see-through fencing, and yet others mandate no fences whatsoever.
If you’ve only ever lived in one area, whatever is the local “going rate” is the only thing you know. At least in person.
I have a chain link fence. I’ve also had climbers (dogs) for over 10 years, and there have been too many times when I’ve had to climb over the fences myself to retrieve them from the backyards of all three neighbors.
My backside neighbor recently out up his own wooden privacy fence. Given the choice, that’s what I would prefer. It’s taller and I think they’re less likely to get a foothold to climb over.
