There are certain areas players tend to congregate and chat. The three main towns generally have little chatter because of RMT spam. You are much more likely to find shouts, fc recruitment, and chatter near grinding spots and end-game dungeons. I would recommend the following locations in no particular order:
western thanalan (horizon), eastern thanalan (camp drybones), north thanalan (ceruleum processing plant), western la noscea (aleport), eastern la noscea (costa del sol), south shroud (quarrymill), coerthas highlands (dragon reach), and mor dhana (revenants toll).