Addison, TX provided city-wide WiFi for residents for awhile, but I think they're phasing it out this month. Their reasoning was that 3G was ubiquitous, so there was really no reason to provide WiFi any longer.

There are a lot of community wireless networks, all around the world:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wireless_community_netw...

Well, there must have been one somewhere, somewhen, to allow that initial connection whose name is now being passed around via buggy old XP systems.

i couldn't believe how long it took starbuck's to reevaluate their stance on wifi considering they've become the library of the 21st century.

as for other locations, get ready for the subway system if you didn't catch it before... http://mashable.com/2010/07/30/nyc-wireless-subway/

There is in some areas, of course. A tourist district in a town near me, for instance, provides free public wifi.