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COVER STORY SIDEBAR Parallel universes Any relationship between a Boston and a Cantabrigian can be strained by one nagging question: which one is going to cross the river? The problem can arise for two friends trying to meet for dinner, or a couple looking for their first apartment together. It doesn't take much effort to cross the Charles, of course, but business owners seem to have figured out that people like to stay on their own side. Consider these eerily similar sets of Mass. Ave. businesses, the first in Boston and the second in Cambridge:   Boston Cambridge All purpose hardware and dorm furnishings Economy Hardware Tags Obscure board games Compleat Strategist Games People Play Catfish dinners Dixie Kitchen Austin Grill Risque birthday gifts Sweet 'n' Nasty Hubba Hubba Odd magazines Tower Records Out of Town News Quick slices New York Pizza Hi-Fi Pizza Used record stores Looney Tunes Skippy Whites Art supply stores Charrette Pearl Art and Craft Supplies

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