I agree - this sounds super elitist and mean, but I feel like they make the lowest tiers of APs too inexpensive - most people living in the area can probably justify $600/person as their recreation/vacation/whatever budget for the year, and people in the area can go as much as they want. Bump up the price (or eliminate the lowest passes) and people think twice about buying an AP and maybe instead visit a few times a year.
Regarding crowds in general, we are from Idaho and come maybe 2x/year, so even when crowds have seemed low to me, maybe it's actually not that low comparatively?
Yeah you are right that is super elitist. I would argue the reverse. Locals can afford less due to high home and living expenses, but provide a steady stream of revenue for Disney with food and merch purchases etc(and we all know Disney Dining is one of if not the most profitable arm of Disney). If anything they could bump up the cost of single tickets since people on vacation can easily just factor that into their several thousand dollar vacation budget.