Vermont’s gonna be a rough one to move to, they have one of the worst housing shortages in the country atm. Maine might be a good pick, you may want to check out Connecticut too, that’s the one I’m leaning more towards. The towns are small, but close to one another so you get the benefits of a city with a more small town feel. Cost of living is reasonable, schools are good, pretty progressive govt. It checks a lot of my boxes and I get the feeling it might do the same for you.
As far as I’m aware, congress was in a unique position to intervene specifically with the rail strike. I’m not so sure those privileges extend to carrier services like ups or FedEx. That likely won’t stop the feds from doing some fuck shit, but they’re in a less legally justifiable position to do it