Closest suburb (Katy, Cypress, Sugarland, etc,) with easiest/quickest commute into the city?

We’ll be commuting into the city for school and we’re trying to figure out which suburb has the shortest/easiest commute. We need a house with a yard and can’t afford it in the loop. We’ll be headed near the west side of the city in the loop. Does anyone make this commute from the burbs? How long does it take you? When I use the map to estimate at a certain time during the week it always says 45 mins to and hour. Do the express lanes not cut the travel time?