I think the setting is perfect. A smaller family with less members makes it easier for the viewer to know who's who. A New York setting would probably make it too complicated.
this is a good point sonny. The setting may have been better if the soprano's were the jersey based crew for the lupertazzi family. Tony would have been the capo and answered to the guys in new york
Not to mention the fact that there's been a million movies and what not done on the mob in New York. Doing one that was initially based on the DeCavalcantes over in Jersey was a fresh idea.
I say "initially" because, while the idea of a small, indigenous family in Jersey is obviously based on the DeCavalcantes, it's obvious the writers took ideas from New York as well.
