I think long term that would definitely be better but they were likely looking at sharing the wheat tile from the city to the north to get the copper city started more quickly. But yeah, the eastern pig wheat city is certainly better and they should have left room for it. All the copper city needed to accomplish for right now was connecting copper, which it could have done as effectively one space west as you suggested.
Played: Pitboss 18 - Kublai Khan of Germany Somalia | Pitboss 11 - De Gaulle of Byzantium | Pitboss 8 - Churchill of Portugal | PB7 - Mao of Native America | PBEM29 Greens - Mao of Babylon