In our current neighborhood, you are now allowed to have imposing fences. You can’t have anything over a certain height, and it cannot be opaque (meaning, you can’t have 5″ high privacy fences). You can only have short open fences like farm rails or chain link. It doesn’t lend itself to safety so much as uniformity.
That’s why I can’t wait to build a house on private land that is NOT in a subdivision. Because then we don’t have to worry about rules and can build any kind of house/fence we want. I’ve said before that I want to erect a VERY high privacy fence around our backyard – especially if we have a pool back there. This way people can’t come and dip in our pool if we’re not at home. Predators can’t come in my backyard and attempt to kidnap my kids. And if I want to sunbath in the nude, I’m golden (provided the woods at the back of our property remain woods (which I’m hoping they do)).
I don’t know exactly what kind of fence we’ll put up, but I’m open to options. I know I don’t want a wood fence – they decay with time and get kind of messy looking. So that narrows it down to concrete, brick or vinyl. But I know concrete and brick can get very expensive – especially when you are looking to have a significant amount of land cordoned off. It’s why I love love LOVE SimTek Fencing. Seriously – their fences LOOK like brick, are stronger than vinyl, and includes galvanized steel for added strength. Easy to care for, always look great, and a better option financially. I love their plastic alternative to precast concrete walls because they look SO amazing. I’ve pretty much printed out their entire line of fences for future reference. If I can have a privacy fence like that my backyard would feel like an oasis!!