Current resident here! I can relate to some of your experiences. I will say though that Houston, like a lot of the sunbelt cities has multiple urban cores, the sprawl kind of connects them.

Going from one urban core to another can take some time, indeed an hour in some cases from one close-in area to another. (Close in meaning ~20 - 40 miles). It's very much like the East Bay in that regard.

Living in an urban area like Med Center / West U, or Galleria, energy corridor on the west side, most folks don't suffer, everything is nearby in those communities.

Houston does have a good park and ride bus system for the outer burbs, and it's been successful. They've added a light rail in town connecting downtown entertainment with the medical center and convention areas, and just launched BRT services that connect hubs in the Galleria to some of the park-n-ride depots in the city.

Lots of problems, lots of opportunities to improve, but for the price, the great airports (which I miss thee days with COVID), and these massive freeways to move us over great distance quickly, I'm still a fan.