I am with coach May on this one.
When son was 7 we decided against LL for Khoury (which was the local rec ball the next town over), where he could pitch at that age, it worked well for us as we felt it was more competitive, liked the rules and he could learn more.
At 10, some coaches came up with a plan to have some of the more talented players stay within the league yet play better competition. So we became a travel team in a rec league, and that meant traveling to the next towns to play the best of their rec league. We did this for years and it worked out great. We still traveled to local tournies and occassionally an out of towner somewhere in Florida, but remained part of the league, paid our fees, and did the snack bar, just like everyone else. We left when son was 13 going on 14, the time we felt it was time to move on from that leagues politics until he reached HS (two years) and joined a new league that was formed in the next county but not far away. Our travel was all local, there were many leagues and teams to play against. I liked it because it also gave son an opportunity to do other things, and costs for baseball were minimal.
So essentially my son would be considered a "rec" player until he was 13 going on 14, and he made out fine.
I am not sure of the status these days of the recreational leagues in our area, but I suppose they are still in business, not everyone can afford expensive travel teams when their kids are 8,9,10, etc.