How convenient -- I was just coming to this forum to ask the same question. I even live in the same general area -- outside of Philadelphia. So, I appreciate any answers, too.

I am hoping to screen the view to my neighbor's house by putting potted bamboo on my patio.

thanks from me, too.

Plastic pots can work as long as they have drainage holes, and as long as the pot is vase-shaped, because you will need to re-pot every couple of years, and you will not be able to remove a bamboo from a pot with a top that is smaller than the pot width due to root growth. However, bamboo grows better and is happier in the ground, as well as being more resistant to cold damage. If you are worried about bamboo spreading in your yard, you should simply plant clumping bamboo, rather than running bamboo. To answer your question about choices you need to tell us what your planting Zone is because some bamboo are very cold-resistant and others aren't.

I am in zone 6 (but close to zone 7).

Unfortunately, planting in the ground is not an option for me. The area where I need the bamboo is right against the foundation of my home, and the ground is 100% builder rocks. Impossible to dig.
The bamboo would be somewhat protected from the harsh winters because it will be placed between the house and a hottub. (I left a 5 foot space there for the bamboo.) If we get a nasty cold spell in the winter, I could always try to insulate the pots.

To be on the safe side, try something very cold hardy, like Phyllostachys nuda, or Fargesia nitida or Fargesia murieliae...all hardy to -20F.

GOLDEN BAMBOO, the most common bamboo imaginable, is a most excellent subject for long term container growth. It never reaches maximum size, but compensates for that with thick growth and very interesting little bulges at the the base of the culm, which are more noticeable in containerized plants. every couple or three years, divide it before the spring growing and make ANOTHER CONTAINER. A real beauty for containers is Semiarundinaria fastuosa, and really, it is untried where you are, we normally give it a minimum of 20 degrees, but we are horribly conservative. it is one of the few bamboos which looks and grows in containers almost as well as in the ground. a real beauty, too. Fargesias are the most cold hardy of all the clumpers, in fact, they do HORRIBLY in Southern California for the most part, since they seem to need a cold winter. The American Bamboo Society has a source list, and it is wise to get bamboo in a climate very like the one in which you intend to grow it, whenever possible.

Thanks hermine and kudzu! I'll take all your advice and start looking for cold-hardy bamboo. I imagine the golden bamboo is not too hard to find. Hopefully I can find someone willing to "donate" some clumps for me to get started on!