Yep, we have a big distric heating system here in Brno, Czech Republic - in operation since 1930, with 110 000 housholds & most big public and commercial buildings connected. It started as coal fired, but the modern system combines natural gas cogeneration (gas turbine -> steam turbine -> district heat) and waste incineration (that also includes a steam turbine to make some electricity). In the summer the waste incinerator provides all the necessary heat for the system alone. :)
Eventually the city would like to make the system stop using natural gas, so there is a wood waste burning plant comming online at the end of this year & hot water pipeline is being built from the nearby Dukovany power plant. This two together should make the system natural gas indepedent in the future. :)
While it started as steam based system & powered most of then very important textile industry, steam also has issues. Old pipes loose quite a bit of heat on the way (there used to be evergreen meadows even in winter in places above the old steam pipes), the pipes flex quite a bit when heating up/cooling, so they need to be placed on rollers in underground channels with U shaped sections to account for the pipe stretching/contracting. The steam also condenses & you need to get rid of that condensate on the way. And while unlikely, it is possible for a steam pipe to burst/explode, which is very dangerous for any bystanders.
For these reasons & because the textile industry being much less important, the Brno district heating system is being converted to hot water distribution, which is quite a bit more effcient apparently. Reportedly, with modern insulated pipes, the heat loss on the way is negligeable, the pipes can be placed directly in the ground & they form a closed loop - no more mucking with rollers, condensante or explosions.
So in a few years, the often seen steam ventilation pipes (from the various steam related texhnical spaces) around the city will be a thing of the past. :)
I live in Minnesota and both Minneapolis and St Paul have district heating and cooling systems in their downtown core areas. Cordia Energy operates the Mpls network and Evergreen Energy operates the St Paul network. I’m unsure what the fuel source is for the Mpls network but the St Paul network uses wood chips/wood waste and natural gas.