If you find Shanghai metro too crowded, you probably won't survive Shanghai bus in 1980s. Back then, there was no metro. There were not many taxis and they were way too expensive for most people. (The income of a taxi driver would be several times more than a normal worker.) So most people relied on bus and bicycle for transportation. Most people at that time would buy monthly passes (月票), which covered the cost for taking any bus at any length of time in a month. This made bus the primary transportation method for a lot of people. And the buses were REALLY crowded. What often happened was that people were still trying to aboard the bus, even when it was already very full. Somehow, they always managed to squeeze in, sometimes with other people pushing behind.

Pu Dong (浦东) was quite a rural area in 1980s. New houses were being built in Pu Dong. But there was a well-known saying: "A bed in Pu Xi is better than a house in Pu Dong." Actually, in many people's eyes, Pu Dong was just Pu Dong, it was not even a part of Shanghai. Such a gap was simply caused by the inconveniences brought up by the Huang pu river. Until mid-1980s, there were no bridges on the river, and only one tunnel under it -- Da Pu Road Tunnel, which was not even close to the places where traffic was heavy. Most people and vehicles had to take ferry, which was slow and inconvenient.
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On a winter morning in 1987, a heavy fog clouded Huang Pu river, and kept all the ferries from operating for several hours. When the fog started fading and Lu Jia Zui ferry was going to operate again at about 9am, there were already 30 - 40 thousand people waiting at the ferry. Being late for work simply meant less bonus at that time for most people. So they were all very worried. When the second ferry boat was going to leave, an accident happened. One fell with his bicycle, followed by more stumbled and fell. In 5 minutes, it turned into a horrible stampede accident. 17 died, and there were many injured. (Another version was that 66 died.)
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This horrible accident was the worst stampede accident since 1945 in Shanghai. It made the government decide to accelerate the construction of East Yan An Road Tunnel (延安东路隧道). In May, 1988, it was completed and put into operation. The commuting between Pu Dong and Pu Xi became much better, although still not so convenient as today.

Still, the idea of "A bed in Pu Xi is better than a house in Pu Dong" did not change for most people. And "A bed in Pu Xi" was not too much an exaggeration. In 1980, the average living space of a person was just 4.4 square meters. In 1990, it was still just 6.6 square meters. A lot of families with 3 generations, 4-5 persons, were living in very old apartments of about 20-30 square meters. These apartments usually did not have dedicated bathroom or kitchen. So close stools and coal stoves were being used a lot.

 

Shanghai government was sponsoring the constructions of state-owned apartments (公房). These apartments usually had dedicated bathroom and kitchen, and were also larger than those old apartments. A typical one-room apartment would be around 35 square meters. And a typical 2-room apartment would be around 55 square meters. They were definitely a step up from the old apartments, and were desired by a lot of people. But there were not enough apartments for most of them to move in.
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Life was still getting better for those still staying in old apartments. Coal gas supply was developing very fast in 1980s. By 1990, there were about 100 thousand coal stoves in Shanghai. Compared to the 13 million polulation in Shanghai, this was not a large number, and proved that most families were supplied by coal gas.
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So far the life in 1980s Shanghai that I have described probably seems poor and maybe even miserable. In late 1980s, things were becoming better. For example, food rationing became unnecessary over the years. Food coupons were used less and less, more meat was available, and people also had access to more varieties of food. The monthly salary of a normal worker was usually more than 200 Yuan in 1990, much more than in 1980. Inflation was all along and it was worst in late 1980s, the ration of US Dollor to RMB became 4.76 in 1990. So income of the people increased, but actually not a lot. Such was the general picture of the life in Shanghai at the end of decade: improved but not much, and still far from an abundant life.
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However, a lot of Shanghainese today do miss the old days in 1980s. Certainly what's attractive is not the difficult life in those days. Actually it is more because of how people treated each other. back then, crime rate was low, people were more willing to help each other, neighbors were close, brothers were indeed like brothers. And now, there is much more coldness, indifference and distance between people.
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Final Words

It is really hard to believe what kind of changes have taken place in Shanghai in a mere of 20-30 years. If Shanghai is a "she", in 1980s she would be like wearing rags, compared to the makeup and clothes of fashion and style that she wears today.
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But appearance is not the only thing that has changed of Shanghai over these years. What changed more were the people in the city. In 1980s, Shanghainese was almost the only language in the city. Now most people speak Mandarin. Some even speak English, Japanese. And for those native Shanghainese who have gone through all the changes in Shanghai, their lives were changed completely. For most of them, life was never so abundant, communication and transporation were never so easy, foreign things were never so close, and yet money was never so important, they were also never so greedy and unsatisfied.

But there are still some Shanghainese who live a life not much improved over 1980s. They still live in very old apartments, use close stools, and have very low income. I believe they were also changed forever. In 1980s they probably were average and not much different than most other people. But now they are at the bottom of the society. I wonder what they feel. Do they feel angry, ashamed or just numb? Do they feel abandoned?