The fence people are, and we are getting a 6 foot vinyl privacy fence and extending it to the sidewalk, around here, people just have the little chain link fences and everyone can see what everyone else is doing, we like our privacy
I hate the chain link too. We live in a condo co-op and when we moved here there was wood fencing, which is good because our back yard is against some of the common areas. Well, the wood fencing is in rough shape and they voted to replace it with chain link with "privacy slats" which are a joke. It's awful, it looks like crap but hey "it's cheap" Ugh. Good for you, the vinyl is SOOOOOOO much nicer!