(CNN) -- Hong Kong for the taxes and food, Paris for the café culture and Dublin for the compact social scene -- a growing number of executives are making a conscious choice about where they want to base their lives.
A globalized workforce, with better transport links and remote access to office resources means that commuting large distances has become commonplace. Destination-flexible work has also become more prevalent.
And as traditional nuclear-family households continue to fragment into everything from single-father, or same-sex-partner homes, different cities are beginning to lure different groups.
Ability to find a date, crime rates, stress and cost of living are just some of the criteria that people are using to evaluate a city. And finding the right place involves researching the issues most relevant to you.
"Quality of life means different things to different people at different points in their life," says Bert Sperling of bestplaces.net.
"(When choosing a place to live) you have to listen to your family and find out what is important to them ... you might be more comfortable in an enclave of fellow expatriates who have your way of thinking and whom you are comfortable with."
In 1985, Bert Sperling developed a software program called "Places, U.S.A.." This allows people to enter the factors important to them such as jobless rates, urban sprawl, weather, geography and airport access. The software then ranks U.S. cities based on your criteria.
"The cost of living has become very important and as prices rise -- which they will -- it will become more important. Housing has to be the most important factor, taxes are crucial as well; healthcare has also become an issue, as well as childcare," says Sperling.
He still uses this data to help people and corporations relocate. Sperling is also convinced that the super-commuting lifestyle (Full Story) has its merits.
"Instead of a two-hour commute via your automobile, why not hop on a plane? Two hours later you are far away with a completely different lifestyle, in a completely different country," he explains.
"The quality of life might be higher and the cost of living lower and you may have something more affordable. It can be an exciting adventure -- we just hope the airfares stay quite low."
In a recent CNN online poll, Web site viewers were asked whether they are prepared to commute longer distances for a better quality of life. A significant percentage said they were. (Click here)
While some executives commute, others migrate to base themselves in major cities. It is an activity prevalent among young adults. According to Sperling this accounts for most of the migration in the U.S. and elsewhere.
They are attracted to the big cities for work opportunities, culture, technology infrastructure, easy access to the office, available leisure activities and people who share their values.
However, Sperling believes it is difficult for people to have a good quality of life in large cities such as London, New York and Tokyo.
"Everybody is totally focused on their own living and their commerce. When you cram all this together, quality of life suffers simply because of the crowds of people," he says.
"So you have to go further away from these places to get a decent quality of life and those rare places, which are nearby are tremendously high priced. Only the extremely wealthy can afford those special spots that have a high quality of life that are near metro areas."
CNN's Shantelle Stein and Rosalind Chin contributed to this report
