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Have you ever been here? I guess not, because otherwise you would not think of using a bike as your means of transport.
The infrastructure is absolutely not bike-friendly, neither is the weather (hot & humid).
Traffic is, ehm let me find a friendly description, hectic? I guess that's the main reason that you hardly see people using bicycles.

Anyway, flat land is anywhere around the coast; as soon as you go more inland there are hills.

If you're looking for cheap places to live you're in bad luck if "flat" is important; the cheapest houses/apartments are found in the interior. Anywhere close to the coast is more expensive with the highest prices in the San Juan metropolitan area.

Now, in the metro area there is public transport, so if you would want to live without a car that could be the place to be for you.

P.S. Here's a listing of places for rent. Over 10.000 ads!

gary, thankyou for the reply. no, ive never been. heard some great things about pr (some not so good as well)and its going to be my next adventure. sounds like a catch 22 with the living and transport. so, would the san juan area be an ideal place to start? any other metro areas that might be worth trying? as you know im not familiar with the island,im tryin to learn it as quick as i can. thanks

There's only one metro area, the San Juan metro area.

About learning, do you speak any Spanish? I don't know if you knew, but that's the language here. If you don't speak it things are going to be very difficult..

I could second everything gary said. We moved here in July of last year and you just can't function without a car, here in Dorado there are cycling groups, but it's more recreational than for transport.

I would do a little more research into moving to PR. At trip or two there beforehand would be most beneficial so your adventure doesn't turn into a nightmare. PR is not the kind of place you want to go to on just on a whim. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love PR but things are a whole lot different there than in the states. I concur with Gary about the traffic. He was very "polite" in his comment about PR drivers. One drive through the metro area is enough to scare any seasoned driver for the first time. But you get used to it. PR drivers might be very dangerous but they are pretty predictable. I personally wouldn't think of using a bicycle to get around, even outside the metro area. If the roads aren't full of potholes then they are too narrow. You might want to rethink your approach.

This morning in San Juan a man riding his bicycle was killed after being hit by 3 cars and a truck.

Yeah, riding a bicycle is dangerous in this country..

it's clear that riding a bicycle is dangerous in pr but what do you folks think about riding a motorscooter?...i'd like to do that but have been warned not to in the most dire of terms by one person who lives on vieques...another person, who has a scooter and a motorcycle and lives in san juan, says it's no more dangerous than riding in the usa and that there are 200,000 motorscooters in pr...once you get out of the san juan area, is it really that dangerous?

There's quite a lot of them around. It looks like most of them are owned by kids/young adults.
The way many of them are driving makes me shake my head every now and then..

Although I have a motorbike license and used to ride big bikes back in Europe I don't even think of getting a bike here. Traffic is too hectic and I wouldn't feel comfortable on a bike, with or without an engine.

Read this

After reading you will know what the people on this form are talking about.

Peter

Just wondering, if you can  drive in NYC will you be better prepared to drive in PR?

Paet

Driving in NYC will get you prepared for PR