Commentary RANSON, West Virginia—Drive along U.S. 11 in Pennsylvania, Maryland, and here in West Virginia and you are pretty much roaming through the more conservative enclaves of the region. The road, one of the first north-south routes in the country, takes the traveler through places such as Chambersburg, Shippensburg, and Carlisle, Hagerstown and Martinsburg. The offramps wind down to treasures such as those here in Ranson. Drive too fast and you miss meeting some really great people or seeing some beautiful places, some gorgeous preservation projects that have brought homes and businesses back to life, some of which reflect beauty even in decay. Fly over the states or use an interstate and you are likely to never know who the people who live along U.S. 11 are and what they care about. That’s OK. People really don’t like feeling like a specimen, but if you are going to write about …