With several comments of 'this has been discussed before' I want to say that I think the OP was well-thought out and well-articulated. This 'time and space' problem has no perfect solution, and Larian had their reasons to make the choices they did. They're not exactly the choices I would have made, either in general or specifically in terms of a Baldur's Gate installment, and I agree that 'time and space' immersivity has suffered somewhat.
