Flying lower is safer in helicopters  

Have a brain. One thousand feet gives you how many seconds to autorotate to the ground at a decent rate of 1500 feet per minute? Flare needs about 100 feet. You have 900 feet to make all of the decisions as a pilot.  its up to you how low you want to fly, but I rather have little more time to enter auto and stbalize the glide then avoid populated area.