Some US suburbs put them in park areas, I live in Palo Alto where there are a number of such community gardens.

In bigger cities there have been various community garden projects, but they often are wildcat projects using vacant lots and constantly facing eviction by property owners to avoid insurance and adverse possession claims.

Not uncommon at all. In the US they're generally called community gardens, and in larger cities often have similarly long wait lists to the OP's.

Not sure if this is a pro-tip that could be repeated or not, but I've had a plot for five years. When I signed up they contacted me and told me about the extensive waiting list, and offered to tear up my check if I didn't want to wait. "But it's a cashier's check," I replied. I think they bumped me up in the queue just to avoid the hassle of returning it, because I was immediately approved.

(Edit: Just to be clear I think the wait time was a year or two, not 40.)

Yes, I’m in Portland, OR and waited for a plot in a community garden a few blocks from my apartment for about 4 years - this garden is very popular and now has a wait list of 6-8 years. There were several gardens in the city with openings but none were very convenient to where I live.

My aunt had one in the garden next to Buckman Elementary, it seemed well subscribed.

Yeah the closer in gardens in SE tend to be really popular and well taken care of. Buckman, Colonel Summers, Clinton, etc.

I've never heard of this anywhere in the US (but I've never explicitly looked). I got a plot at work once but that was private property. A senior center next to me offered gardening at a nearby plot for it's elderly members but again nothing public. Some city parks have small gardens run by volunteers.

Edit: should have googled, seems my town does indeed have it! https://www.mountainview.gov/depts/cs/rec/facilities/garden....

I don't know about elsewhere, but there's a "community garden" I walk past every day. No idea how long I'd have to wait to get a plot in there.

My little city has about a dozen of them. Usually they are legally parks, which makes it harder under NY law to get rid of them.