Both the pear and the Norway maple should be avoided. October Glory is perfectly acceptable choice as would be any other red maple or any of the Freeman maples. Rather than 'exposed roots', I think the term you are looking for is 'surface roots' (big difference) - lots of trees other than maples produce surface roots but usually only when the soil is compacted and irrigation is shallow. They don't necessarily happen as a matter of course :-)

I'd consider some of the oaks as well.

@gardengal48 thank you very much for the feedback - so you like the October Glory? That's our first choice. Yes, I meant surface roots. An oak would probably be too large for our smaller yard.

Anything else that you can think of that might seem nice?

Agreed. I think you are being overly cautious about size. In addition to their many other problems, I think a pear is too small for your purposes.

What do you want out of a tree? Fall foliage, flowers? What is your soil like? Swampy, sandy, acidic, alkaline, salty? Is the are windy? Do you want a privacy screen in the winter?

If you are patient, I think Tupelo or American Beech would be interesting options.

newtothe, do you have any sense of what your soil's pH (level of acidity or alkalinity) might be? Reason I ask is that Acer rubrum-red maple-will do poorly on any but quite acidic soils. Freeman maples, things like 'Autumn Blaze' et al, were brought to the market partly to get around this issue. If your soil pH is anything much above say, 5.5, I'd go Freeman maple rather than red (rubrum).

@johniferous thanks for the suggestions. Yes, the open expanse of land is why we want to put trees in. The land is actually old farmland that is now a small development as of 2 years ago - so there are basically no large or native trees anywhere in the neighborhood currently.

To add more of narrative, there is an easement at the top of the hill there that runs along my property so I technically can't plant anything there so a tree line is not possible. I'm planting the single tree about 10 feet from the easement so I'm good but I can't do more than that and remain compliant.

Unfortunately, my wife voted down evergreens back there for some reason.

@edlincoln I primarily want privacy from a single tree. I don't want anything huge though considering we want to put in a pool starting about 15 feet from the tree. The way the sun moves, the higher up we put the pool, the more sun we'd get.

Soil is mostly clay-like but I'm not sure what other characteristics since I've never tested. It was old farmland so I'm not sure what that might mean to the soil. The area is moderately windy mainly because there are no trees to break the wind.

American elm "Princeton".....nice shape....no surface roots....can live a few hundred years...DED resistant....native to your area. Ginko.....hardy and long lived.....can survive atomic blasts and live over 1000 years

"Do I even want a maple with this sized yard?"

What size is it exactly- in feet?

That panoramic stretch-o-vision distorts things.

The width (where you see the row of arborvitaes) is about 93'

The length from where you see the deck to the rear is about 70'

While I hate to disagree with Tom (and seldom ever do so :-)), red maples are not quite as focused on acidic soil conditions as he thinks. They are actually quite adaptable to a range of soil pH and although DO prefer it on the acidic side, do not require a very low pH. They just won't tolerate a very high or alkaline pH (anything above 7.5) The closer to neutral the pH is, the greater the chance of a maganese deficiency and resulting chlorosis will occur. But this tends to be a late season issue so not as critical as it could be if it appeared earlier. And relatively easily rectified by a dose of any sulphated nutrient product or just some elemental sulphur.

What IS pretty essential is a moisture retentive soil. That would be the critical factor in my estimation.

The space doesn't look too small for a large tree like an oak to me.

It sounds like to be "compliant," you've only got room for one tree along the back line of your property? I've never heard of such a thing, but I'm an old Midwest fuddy duddy. If that's correct, then I would put a premium on finding a tree with four seasons of interest. Growth rate be damned. It sounds like time is on your side, so go bold and be patient. You just may find yourself with an amazing tree that tree lovers like us will recognize when fate takes us through your neighborhood.

Nyssa sounds good to me, but I'd also consider something like the native Cladrastis. It's a tough tree with spectacular flowering, when it decides to do such a thing. But that's just it! It would set the whole damn neighborhood talking about that solitary tree that every few years produces this wonderful bouquet. If you're near Philly, check out the Yellowwood behind City Tavern. You can't miss it.

@maackia - here I was all decided on an October Glory Maple and you give me Nyssa and Cladrastis! These are the types of trees I was hoping someone would suggest since I know zero about trees but have been obsessed over finding the perfect tree for my yard. So many choices... Thanks so much for the suggestions! Any more you can to share?

Any reason why you can't plant smaller understory trees in what will become the understory of the large tree? That would give you more interest and options. Great understory trees include dogwoods, redbuds, and Viburnum prunifolium (Black Haw).

@ gardengal-we have had mega-problems with A. rubrum right here in normal, everyday E-Central WI. Our soils run towards the circumneutral and red maple sits and sulks forever here. I don't say these things just for the heck of it, or that other H word for that matter. I know Pennsylvania-like eastern WI-can have lots of limestone outcroppings and near-neutral soils. I wouldn't waste my time-under such conditions-with red maple. If OP happens to not be in such an area (limestone bedrock near the surface), then it might make sense.

Freeman maples-including the naturally-derived legacy trees I see all over this area, have no such trouble. Redmaples, on the other hand, are well-established poor accumulators of iron and manganese in soils with a too-high pH, even where those two mineral elements are plentiful in the soil, which is exactly the case here.

ETA: But you're right to rarely disagree with me! And yes, I am lol'ing.

@viper114 - I like the Ginkgo tree a lot! Never thought of that one... Thanks