Living in a flat - Luxury vs convenience

I was reading the latest issue of Chennai Realty.biz

One among the leading builders of Chennai says: "Location cannot be identified with luxury".

The question posed to him is: How integral to luxury is location?

Answering this question the builder says: "....Location is not an indicator to luxury. It never was. I went into somebody's building on Khader Nawaz Khan Road. Most expensive piece of real estate today is on that road.  They have acute water shortage. What kind of luxury is that if there is no adequate water? I am saying that the location does not spell luxury. What comes with the building, irrespective of whether it is on Boatclub, OMR or GST road makes it luxurious".

Personally, I would agree as well as disagree with the above reply.

I would chose a location with lots of convenience rather than luxury.  Because there is a cost

associated with luxury. It will always be so.

Let us see what the dictionary says about luxury: Something inessential but conducive to pleasure and comfort; Something expensive or hard to obtain. Sumptuous living or surroundings.

Somebody living in Khader Nawaz Khan Road lives in luxury, let us say. That person can

definitely afford to pay two to three hundred rupees a day to get water. It may not be a big deal. So, the argument gets defeated.

Let us take the case of a person living in a multi-storied apartment in OMR or GST of 1200 sft.

Yes, he may have plenty of water, a gym, garden, swimming pool, security and so on. But one

has to remember that all that comes with a cost. Builders and associations charge upto Rs.3 a sq. ft. to maintain and afford these things. So the luxury obtained here comes with a tag of

Rs.3,600 per month (and much more in the future). 

But then one has to think of convenience. Again the dictionary says: The quality of being suitable to one's comfort, purposes, or needs: the convenience of living near shops, schools,

and libraries.

As a school boy, a student in college and for many more years I was staying in the location:
Gopalapuram. It was a place of very great convenience and of course the luxury coming out of
that convenience.

My school was just across the road. It was a very peaceful atmosphere those days and I would proceed to my class after hearing the bell from my house!

My college, Vivekananda College, was just a matter of 10 minutes by cycle. I used to come home for lunch!

Libraries: British Council Library, American Consulate Library, District Central Library were all
within 10 minutes walking distance.

Music Academy: Within 10 minutes walking distance. 

Cinema Halls: Safire complex, Anand, Pilot, Woodlands, Midland(Jayapradha), Odeon(Melody) were all within 15 minutes walking distance.

Central Station: Within 5 Kms.

I could go on and on.

So, when buying a flat or moving into a flat, one should strike a balance between luxury and convenience.