教师夏娜•里奇怀念她用Glamour Girl美女贴纸给女儿们装饰的游戏室。消防员杰•费尔南德兹念念不忘自己在后院安装的迷你高尔夫球场。
School teacher Shana Richey misses the play room she decorated with Glamour Girl decals for her daughters. Fireman Jay Fernandez misses the custom putting green he installed in his back yard.
　　
不过，打从他们不再缴纳月供、搬离自己的房子之后，却发现放弃美国梦也自有其好处。
But ever since they quit paying their mortgages and walked away from their homes, they've discovered that giving up on the American dream has its benefits.
　　
如今，他们两家住在加州帕姆代尔市Club Rancho Drive道的同一个街区。在这一地区，楼市的不景气让他们可以租下豪华的房子。其中一座是带游泳池的，孩子们可以玩；另外一座可以看到高尔夫球场上的风景。而房租都只相当于过去月供的很小一部分。
Both now live on the 3100 block of Club Rancho Drive in Palmdale, where a terrible housing market lets them rent luxurious homes -- one with a pool for the kids, the other with a golf-course view -- for a fraction of their former monthly payments.
　　
里奇说，我们过上了更美好的生活，真的是这样。在放弃缴纳月供之前，她的未偿贷款比房子市值高出了约23万美元。
'It's just a better life. It really is,' says Ms. Richey. Before defaulting on her mortgage, she owed about $230,000 more than the home was worth.
　　
人们越来越甘愿放弃自己的房子，这显示出楼市泡沫破裂所带来的一种矛盾性的改变：在楼市泡沫破裂打碎了人们近乎神圣的有房梦的同时，却可能也在为经济复苏扫清道路。
People's increasing willingness to abandon their own piece of America illustrates a paradoxical change wrought by the housing bust: Even as it tarnishes the near-sacred image of home ownership, it might be clearing the way for an economic recovery.
　　
抵押贷款数额远远超过了房屋价值，再加上低廉的租金，这些因素少有的同时出现让越来越多的家庭得出结论，新的美国梦就是租房住。
Thanks to a rare confluence of factors -- mortgages that far exceed home values and bargain-basement rents -- a growing number of families are concluding that the new American dream home is a rental.
　　
有些人马上就把房子和抵押贷款都抛在了一边，也有些人只是停止缴纳月供，直到银行把他们从房子里踢出去。这样，他们就释放了现金，可以用在别的方面。
Some are leaving behind their homes and mortgages right away, while others are simply halting payments until the bank kicks them out. That's freeing up cash to use in other ways.
　　
里奇的五口之家用其中一部分钱买了迪斯尼乐园的季票，并计划明年3月份去墨西哥参加狂欢节之游。费尔南德兹则可以更多地请女友下馆子吃饭。里奇说，我们省下很多钱。
Ms. Richey's family of five used some of the money to buy season tickets to Disneyland, and plans to take a Carnival cruise to Mexico in March. Mr. Fernandez takes his girlfriend out to dinner more frequently. 'We're saving lots of money,' Ms. Richey says.
　　
美国的住房自有率创下了二十多年来的最大降幅，截至9月份已经从2004年的峰值69.2%降至67.6%。此外，还会出现更多租房住的人：信贷公司Experian和咨询公司Oliver Wyman预测，那些有能力支付月供、却选择“战略性违约”的房主2009年可能会超过100万人，较2007年的水平高出3倍多。
The U.S home-ownership rate has charted its biggest decline in more than two decades, falling to 67.6% as of September from a peak of 69.2% in 2004. And more renters are on the way: Credit firm Experian and consulting firm Oliver Wyman forecast that 'strategic defaults' by homeowners who can afford to pay are likely to exceed one million in 2009, more than four times 2007's level.
　　
违约对人们的信用不利，对银行也不利。越来越多的违约可能也意味着纳税人会因救助银行而蒙受更多的损失。
Stiffing the bank is bad for peoples' credit, and bad for banks. Swelling defaults could also mean more losses for taxpayers through bank bailouts.