Is living midtown/heights the ultimate Houston experience

So my whole 8 years is Houston I've always lived in somewhere around Memorial City. Because of that my experience of Houston has always been that having a car is not an option.

But a friend of mine has recently moved to Houston from NYC and they miss the more dense urban environment and walkability. Well naturally I recommended they move to midtown or the heights but only because I've heard that it's more walkable.

So I was wondering if anybody who lives there who also might have lived in the exurbs before can let me know what their experience is like in the more urban walkable areas.