Boom! Coming soon to a sleepy town near you?

We're definitely experiencing a real-estate doldrums of sorts, but it won't always be that way. Especially considering all the communities throughout the U.S. that never really experienced those over-inflated prices and are now ready for their close-ups, so to speak.

USAToday and AOL Real Estate have put together a slideshow of these soon-to-be boomtownsplus listings for those areas. These may not be hip and happenin' locales, but they sure have the potential to be. Towns like Goodyear, Arizona and Brighton, Colorado may not be high on your relocation list, but when major companies move there (maybe even the company you're working for right now) they could strike you as perfectly pleasant places to live. Which they are.

And that's the other major factor: Livability. Major commercial metropolises like Chicago and New York serve as an immediate draw for young professionals; but after a few years of the rat race, as USAToday points out, people long for "the small towns they grew up in: Old store facades, railroad tracks through the heart of downtown, free parking everywhere."

These commerce-friendly places with small-town charm are striking a balance that could serve them well in the future. Many, like Brighton, are located between or near major metropolitan areas. Winchester, Virginia also falls into this category, a centrally located town with an easygoing atmosphere and earth-friendly development projects.

B. Brandon Barker also writes for Political Machine.