Finding affordable parking — heck, any parking — in Miami Beach is a strategic and risky game. The goal is to optimize price, location, and availability, which alone would be difficult — even if you didn't have to try your damnedest not to run over jaywalking tourists. Next time you're circling around South Beach, distressed by this eternal quest, consider the following rules: ( 1) Stick to City of Miami Beach parking (lest you get hustled by an independent lot with a history of towing problems, or fork over a flat rate that'll cost you more than your dinner). (2) Shoot for a spot near Lincoln Road. Anything near SoFi will already be taken. Sorry. (3) Try the Pennsylvania Avenue Garage. Everyone knows about the 17th Street Garage — the behemoth across from the Miami Beach Convention Center — but few people realize that the adjacent Pennsylvania Avenue Garage, a fraction of the size, is much better. When it's a big holiday or festival weekend and Ol' Faithful is somehow already full (all 1,460 spots — we will never understand it), turn onto Pennsylvania Avenue and continue straight past gluten-free haven Oolite. Then make a left onto Lincoln Lane North (the alleyway behind Lincoln Road). To your left, directly across from H&M, you'll find the easily obscured but oh-so-magical word: "entrance." Tons of the 550 parking spaces are almost guaranteed to be open because few people realize that the 17th Street Garage's scaled-down, younger cousin is even there. The cost for parking is $1 an hour for the first six hours, which is a miracle in South Beach. And the location is perfect if you're catching a performance at the Fillmore or New World Center. It's also within walking distance of anywhere else between Alton Road and Collins Avenue you might wish to go. You can even walk to Ocean Drive to enjoy a giant frozen margarita.