why don't aoe 3 players put their settlements closer to the resources?

So I'm an occasional aoe 3 player, haven't played it in years, I mostly play other RTS so that might explain my cofusion.

Recently, I've begun watching some aoe 3 games because I can't buy the game (my country prohibits dollar transactions abroad) so I settle by watching the games on YouTube. I see players either place their settlements oddly far away from their resources or sometimes even not placing one at all, having the citizens walk for extra time to gather their resources at the settlement/capitol. As an RTS player, this confuses me and sometimes even frustrates me. Is there any reason behind doing this? Is there any hidden bonus one gets from doing this? Or is it just that the players I'm watching don't play well? Could it be that the strategies in playing the game are different and I'm overly wasteful for choosing to place settlements in my way?