"Peter Duniho" wrote:
Have you ever found the FAA's definition of a "congested area?" I've
never seen it.

Nope. It's a common misconception that it coincides with the yellow
area on VFR charts, but in truth there's no documentation to that
effect either. (The yellow area is simply there to provide some
indication as to how the area looks at night...and the official
description is simply "Populated Places Outlined").

However, as always, past interpretations offer guidance as to what the
"definition" might be, and one can be assured that any built-up urban
area such as the one the original poster describes would be considered
"congested".

Well, yeah, sometimes it's obvious. But how about a residential area -
is that "congested?" I thought about that last week when I flew home
from Houston and did a hurricane damage survey of my neighborhood before
landing. I stayed above 1,000' simply because I wasn't sure.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM