Thanks. I've gone ahead and put down soil and raked in some additional seed. If it makes it even a little better, it will have been time/money well spent (and not much of either, frankly). 2/3 of the strip between the sidewalk and street looks like shit, too. Lord knows what the previous owners had going on. The remaining third is lush.
Stay tuned on that--and for the backyard follies once that project gets underway.