and still live here. You will be surprised that it depends on the city.
There has always been a strong "horticultural" focus here where you'll have hundreds of blocks of 10ft wide row homes with little patches of "lawn" out front that have been filled with all kinds of plants and flowers and yes even veggies. In fact many of those communities set up "communal" plots (community gardens) where they will plant in vacant lots set aside for that purpose (some of those lots having been around for decades).
The PA Horticultural Society has been a sponsor for many of these - https://phsonline.org/for-gardeners/gardeners-blog/ngt-50th-garden-preserved
And there are many others (often sponsored by the colleges/universities and other orgs) - https://www.phillyhomegirls.com/blog/where-to-garden-in-philly
This is the most well-known one here (and probably one of the oldest) having been set up along the railroad tracks back in 1984 (Glenwood Green Acres) - https://glenwoodgreenacres.wixsite.com/home/giving-back-to-philly
I have a pile of basil seedlings (4 different types) in a domed propagator tray on a seedling heat mat that will hopefully be ready to go out in my vegtrug around Memorial Day! I grew up with a gardening mom and me and my sisters were just texting today about what plants we were looking to "shovel prune", move, and/or buy. 
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