Well, here we are again, nothing has really changed. The same few vocal members dislike the nods, a few like them, and the majority don't seem to care.
I didn't start this site in order to become a big mega-site. I don't consider it a business, it does not "cash flow". Given that the site is geographically limited, the participation rate is actually quite good in the community. I still feel the site is helpful in providing information for residents, and facilitating people getting to know their neighbors. Even if the site had dropped in users I wouldn't be concerned because building traffic really isn't the point. That being said, Alexa is notoriously bad at measuring traffic, especially for small sites.
While I (and the moderators) are open to discussion on the rules, features, and really anything about the site - there comes a point that once it's been demonstrated several times, through multiple discussions, that the community at large is either neutral or supportive of the nods that I am not likely to make a change I don't see necessary. There are a lot of things about this site that individuals and small groups of people don't like - but it's impossible to keep all users perfectly happy.
For the few people that do not like the nods there are simple individual options in place to deal with them. You could ignore them, you could use a greasemonkey or other script to hide them, or you could simply stop using this website. You could also set up your own forum and not have nods on it. There are so many ways to not have them be such a bother.
I learned long ago that this site isn't going to be everything for everyone, and not everyone uses the site the same way. I have many emails and PM's, and web analytics data to attest to that. Sincerely though, if the nods create such a negative experience for you that you must leave, then I respect your decision.