A lot of issues Gridania has is plainly due to its design, fix them and you have a place just as good as Limsa.

Add in ships you don't need to reserve Anima

Add in dungeons at all locations you will have people going all over to each one.

Make all dungeons Unique but not stupid, what I mean by this is the Factionleve NM's you have to do them in the 3 different cities for a full set, GOOD IDEA! But the drop rates and difficulty for gear that tbh isn't very good, BAD IDEA! So more often than not people will just do Limsa/Uldah's and then Trade around and Gridania is again left. I will only go to Gridania when I have over 800 points in Shield.

I also forgot to add I think 9 is an awesome idea, something similar to Dynamis I would would be more suited. (Avoid relicings for the time being just do it for AF and as such certain pieces drop in certain zones and such).