Unfortunately patience is the only option. Looks like you have some cypress and/or arborvitae that are the fastest growing screeners.

I'm in the same boat. Waiting on these things to take off.

Maybe you could get a fast growing vine to plant along your fence. That would cover the fence, but not give you the privacy I think you're looking for.

EDIT: Crape Myrtles are also very fast growers that would give you some spring/summer privacy.

Tom, I understand your predicament in wishing for privacy, but as jc says, patience is your best bet.

I planted Leyland Cypress across my back yard in a stagger formation 19 years ago. They grew 35+ ft tall and 20 feet wide. Great privacy screen, but they were ragged looking and I had no yard. They were so unattractive. We cut them down (16+) at great expense, had the stumps ground at great expense, and are starting over with smaller (by small I mean they now look like dwarf shrubs at 2 1/2 ft tall!), manageable Oakleaf Hollies that are slow growers and won't take over our yard when mature. We planted them in small groups, leaving plenty of space for mature growth, staggered unevenly. We also planted an Eastern Redbud for shade, and 2 Autumn Blaze maples for shade and color in the fall... someday. Not in the next 3 years though! We planted small...

You asked for perspective, so keep in mind this is just mine, and take or leave what you wish... You might want to keep in mind how your eyes move across the yard, creating some focal points. With a line of trees "in a row", the eye doesn't move. Consider staggering trees and mixing evergreens and deciduous, vary your leaf shapes and colors, and plant various heights where appropriate - keeping your neighbors in mind. It's taken me years to learn what and how to plant, and I'm still learning : )

I'd recommend paying attention to mature height and width and give your plantings room to reach their full maturity. Looks like you have a patio... How about some curved flower beds (not small or narrow, but generous for plantings), with interesting shrubs and perennials interspersed to make your backyard a place you want to enjoy?

Looking at your photo I see the side of a large brown brick home - it really draws my eye. If you could pull a few of those everygreens out along your fence line, and moving inward just a bit toward your patio/home, planting a shade tree, it'd draw your eye away from the side of that house (don't plant anything that will have a large root growth near your patio, of course). If that's not where you'll get shade at the time of day you need, then consider something smaller. At the first pic I see right off a blue house. If you could plant a small decorative tree, or bring a flower bed out and plant an interesting shrub there, it'd pull you eye away from the blue house. With a minimal amount of plantings well considered, you could create a lot of interesting areas for your eyes to move, rest, and detract.

I ended up staggering Green Giant, Emerald Green, Leyland Cypress, and Arizona Blue Cypress unevenly on the inside of my privacy fence.

Varying colors of green.

On the outside of the fence are maples and sycamore. They will fill in the high gaps more quickly.