I wish to add that, as a reader, I've often relied on the sidebar. Precisely because of the community focus of the site, I'm more likely to just revert to the forum front page, glance at the sidebar, and click if I see an interesting title, than I am to go to the stories page and actively look. I'm sure I'm not the only person who does this. I don't see how this change is beneficial to anyone. If you could demonstrate that it is, maybe I'd be more at ease with it, but to me it looks a lot like change just for change's sake.
EDIT: Also, if you want to see how readership has dwindled, just look at the amount of likes on the weekly top stories now compared to earlier. Cause there are regularly stories with one like on that list, including right now.