South Beach is traversed by numerical streets which run east-west, starting with First Street, and the largely pedestrianized Lincoln Road (between 16th and 17th). It also has 13 principal Roads and Avenues running north-south, which from the Biscayne Bay side are Bay Road, West Avenue, Alton Road, Lenox Avenue, Michigan Avenue, Jefferson Avenue, Meridian Avenue, Euclid Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, Drexel Avenue, Washington Avenue, Collins Avenue (Route A1A), and Ocean Drive. There are three smaller avenues (that do not run the entire length of the beach) in the Collins Park area, namely Park, Liberty, and James. Most locals agree that South Beach's northern boundary runs along Dade Boulevard from Lincoln Road on the bay side of the island, and heads east-north-east until it connects with 23rd Street, which forms the northern boundary on the ocean side.

Residential neighborhoods
There are several residential neighborhoods in South Beach. South of Fifth (also known as SoFi) encompasses the area from the Atlantic ocean east to Biscayne Bay on the west, and from Fifth Street to the South Pointe. It is, as of 2005, the area with the highest property values. This area is home to several large scale development projects and large buildings such as the Portofino and its sister buildings, Icon (spearheaded by designer Philippe Starck), and several other buildings. This area has several notable nightlife destinations, such as Opium Garden, Prive, Nikki Beach Club, and Pearl. It also has several smaller, upscale bars, and in addition several restaurants, including world famous Joe's Stone Crab, Smith & Wollensky's steak house, and China Grill. However, it is mostly residences.

Flamingo Park is the neighborhood directly north of Fifth, and expands from Alton Road on the west to Washington Avenue on the east, with its northern boundary being Lincoln Road. However, it does not include Lenox This area contains very few businesses (with the exception of those on Alton Road and Washington Avenue, and Lincoln Road, all of which are commercial streets), and consists mainly of low rise apartment buildings. There is virtually no notable nightlife in this area presently, with the exception of Tantra on 15th Street. It is also home of Flamingo Park, one of South Beach's public parks, which includes recreational facilities such as tennis and basketball courts.

Flamingo West is a neighborhood of single family homes that spans from north of the Park to Lincoln Road on Lennox and Michigan Avenues.

Collins Park, which, according to the Miami New Times, is the most "up and coming" South Beach neighborhood, is located between 17th Street on the south, 23rd Street on the north, the Atlantic Ocean on the east, and Washington Avenue/Pinetree Drive on the west. It is directly across from the Miami Beach Convention Center. This area is currently undergoing gentrification, as many of the old apartments from the 1980's (many of which still have bars on their windows) are being purchased by major New York and South Florida real estate developers for purposes of condo conversion. The Sanctuary, located on James and 18th, plans for a new public library, and several open projects in this neighborhood, are cited by the Miami New Times as evidence that this is the next South of Fifth. This area consists mainly of low rise art deco buildings built in the 1930's and 1950's, as well as the Bass Museum of Art.

Additionally, many high-rise buildings exist on the entirety of Bay Road (home of the world's largest apartment complex - The Flamingo), and West Avenue, and there are multifamily residence located north of Lincoln Road and east of Collins Park.

Commercial and other areas
Lincoln Road is an open-air pedestrian mall, and is considered the premiere shopping area in South Beach. It is home to many restaurants, and several night clubs such as Rumi and State. Additionally, it is home to many retail outlets. While Lincoln Road at one time was rather down trodden, its unique botique shops and restaurants have given it what was called by Ocean Drive Magazine an esoteric chic that maintains its trendy appeal. It is located in between 16th Street and 17th Street and spans the beach in an east-west direction.

Ocean Drive is the easternmost street in South Beach, and stems from south of First to 16th Street, running in a north-south direction. While being home to Pearl and Nikki Beach, two famous, yet predominantly local night spots, It is a popular Spring Break and tourist area. It is home to several restaurants (including the popularized by MTV "Clevelander" and "Mango's") and gives South Beach the aesthetic that out of town visitors would expect. Locals largely avoid most of this street.

Collins is parallel to Ocean, but one block west. It is where A1A begins. Collins is home to many historic Art Deco hotels, and several nightclubs on the north, such as Rokbar and Mynt.

Espanola Way, which runs from Collins Avenue to Pennsylvania Avenue, was conceived by N.B.T. Roney (of the Roney Palace Hotel) in 1925 as The Historic Spanish Village, modeled after the romantic Mediterranean villages found in Paris and Spain. Today it consists of art galleries, restaurants and quirky shops.

Alton Road is a street, located three blocks from Biscayne Bay and running north-south, which hosts many local businesses. While this street has very few nightlife destinations, it is home to such businesses as dry cleaners, supermarkets, and fast food restaurants.

Perhaps the most well known street in South Beach is Washington Avenue. Running parallel with Ocean and Collins, Washington is notorious for having the world's largest and most popular nightclubs. It is a unique street, the likes of which can not currently be found anywhere in the U.S. There are virtually no residenses (aside from the Collins Park area) on Washington. It is home to such famous nightlife destinations as crobar and Mansion, and during "season" (October 15th to May 15th) there can be seen a traffic jam on this street until early in the morning (as late as 6 am) every night of the week.