The short version
Malioboro is Yogyakarta’s public front room: a long central corridor of shops, hotels, food, pedestrians, becak and unhurried-looking traffic that is often neither unhurried nor simple. It is an excellent place to understand the city on arrival. It is a less obvious place to live if one wants quiet, easy parking or an ordinary residential street outside the door.
The name is used loosely. The station end, the retail stretch itself and the palace-facing southern end are close on a map but have different daily rhythms. A hotel or flat advertised as Malioboro may mean a lively frontage, a lane behind it, or simply somewhere within a short ride.
Living beside the city’s main street
The convenience is real. Central landmarks, food, small shops and many short journeys are close together, and the corridor gives a newcomer an immediate social geography. It also carries the burden of being the place visitors expect to see. Weekends, holidays and the evening can make a short road crossing or car journey more effort than the distance suggests.
The better addresses are usually a little removed from the very busiest frontage. Walk the route in the heat as well as after dark, and ask where a ride-hailing car can actually collect you. A quiet-looking lane can sit one turn from a loading area or a busy hotel entrance.
Who it suits
Malioboro suits a short first stay, a person who likes to be able to walk into the centre, or someone whose work and social life are genuinely central. It is not the place to choose merely because the name is famous. For a longer routine, compare the exact lane with Kotabaru, Prawirotaman or the university side of town before deciding.
My view
It is indispensable as an orientation point and enjoyable when treated as a city centre rather than a private neighbourhood. Live just off it if the particular building is quiet enough; do not assume the broad label guarantees that.