One idea would be to put a trellis up on the end of your porch, and then plant a suitable vine/plant to climb it. I used to have a Lady Banks rose on the end of my porch and it completely filled the lattice...and then some. It only blooms once a year in mid-late April, but it's glorious then. There are lots of plants that would work...better than a shrub, I'd think [imho]. Good Luck!

i don't think putting a trellis on porch would work well because the porch itself is at least three and a half feet off the ground level. So whatever we put on the trellis would have to grow almost four feet tall to even be at the bottom of the trellis, and that would do nothing to block our view. Also, anything that climbs is not going to be evergreen and that means we would have this same privacy issue again in the winter when the plants dies back. That's why I wanted an evergreen, large, fast growing shrub. Maybe I could hang a hanging basket of a sun loving
fern above that to fill in until the shrub gets taller.

So I am pretty dead set on a shrub at this point, any suggestions for one that is evergreen and gets tall quickly? It can't get more than 14 ft tall at maturity or it will grow into the eaves of the house.
Tried cleyera, as it was tagged as being fast to moderate in growth, but have found that to be untrue.

Almost anything is going to go through a sleep/creep/leap cycle so that you won't get the most growth until the 3rd year.

That being said, Chindo viburnum has done pretty well for us.

Perhaps if you set some eyehooks in the roof beam you can hang potted plants at different heights. Don't know if ferns would love the hard afternoon sun but there are plenty of other choices.
You might want to put a tilted shield under the pots so they drain off the porch.
That cleyera will do fine so long as you keep it well watered this summer and fall.
They get taller in spots where they only get AM sun and have to reach for the afternoon rays. In three years you won't need so many of those hanging pots and when they are finished blooming maybe hang a faux stain glass panel.
Get creative.

Does this side of your house get at least 4-5 hours of sun? Your cleyera looks healthy and esh is right, it may just still be young. Give it another year. Mine have to be trimmed every year. They are on the south side and I planted them for the height against a tall back wall of our house. They really took off but they do get a lot of sun.

Before that cleyera reaches the "leap" cycle, you'd do well to have some of those foundation bricks re-pointed and mortar cracks attended to while they are easy to get to.

This is one of those times a HOA would come in handy, even though they can become a pain. All I can think of is some very high fencing. If you're on friendly terms, talk to them about the problem.

inbloom,

Don't know if you will see this post or not, or if you bought something for that side

of the porch for privacy yet, but, if you didn't, POT that shrub up in a nice big pot and put it at the edge of your porch where you see the neighbors, it will create privacy instantly.

Those shrubs do VERY well in pots, some people use them as houseplants.

Put it right where you can't see the view.

Instant privacy.

Sorry about this post, it's the new site and it's different from the old one.

American arborvitae or blu/gold bamboo... With bamboo lay plastic or a buried 2x12 to contain roots to desired area.... Any evergreen shrub will work if you keep pruned shaped