I live in Manchester, UK, and while there are lots of developer communities (regular events, get togethers etc) in London, there are not many up north.  I know of a few (NxtGenUg and ManchesterGeekNights) but there must be more than this.What's the best ways of finding out about these?How have people got involved with communities in there area?
How can I get involved with developer communities in my area?
community
Get in touch with Manchester Uni or Manchester Met student's unions... they will have programmer's societies ran by the student's union. They welcome non-students and have regular meetups. Here is a list of societiesAlso check out ManLug as there is bound to be coders there, and they may be able to point you in the right direction. Manchester also has a rich hacker community.