I get it. You don't want to stay too close to the bridge, but it is a good place to orient yourself around.

In Rome I would never stay right at the Piazza where the Pantheon is, but I stay within a short walk of it, because it's central. I think the Ponte Vecchio is too commercial, but I want to be able to walk to the Arno and see it, so I try to limit myself to a place no closer than a five minute walk to avoid being sucked into the tourism, but not too far away either. It's a point of orientation. At least, those are the goals.

I'm looking forward to the Anthony Bourdain show tonight, about the hidden Rome. He is advertising that this will not just be a regular show about the same old, same old, but is something where they "gave everything they had."
http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/02/travel...say/index.html