North California housing related questions - Sacramento area

Sakaki

Long story short, I'm moving to the states at the end of november and am going to, naturally, be looking for a place to rent for myself and my fiancée.  I'm looking for someone that lives in the general area (Sacramento/Citrus Heights/Folsom/anywhere like that) that can suggest good areas to look at - reasonable rent prices, low crime rates, stuff like that.  I'd like to avoid living in Sacramento city itself if possible.

Realistically, I'm looking for a place that is under $1,000 a month to start out, but once I find work, my flexibility will probably increase (plus further down the track we have plans to shift down to the San Diego area and buy a house once I have more saved up).

Any advice?

Estarra

Sorry, I live in the Bay Area so am not familiar with Sacramento. But when I was looking for places in Oakland, I often looked at Trulia's "crime map" that showed where crime was centered.

http://www.trulia.com/real_estate/Sacramento-California/crime/
(Stay away from the red zones!)

Their main map also has options to see things like demographics and amenities, etc. which may be helpful.

Good luck!

Sakaki

Thanks @Estarra - will check out the link