If you are east of the 405 and (assuming) west of Pomona, then UC Verde buffalo, TIF 419 bermuda, or St Augustine would work. I started this and suddenly have an errand to run, but I'll be back with some prep suggestions. Meanwhile, could you post a picture of the yard taken from the street? The best garden pictures are taken in the shade or on a cloudy day, but you can't always choose your day.

Sorry, but the "best" plan for a front lawn in LA is NO lawn at all! Given the current drought situation and the lack of sufficient water for drinking and agricultural crops, a traditional lawn is a thing of the past. Or should be. Many SoCal counties are offering rebates to homeowners to encourage them to remove lawns in favor of drought tolerant plantings. Even the UC Verde buffalo grass sucks up much more water that is necessary or expedient.

dchall, I added a couple photos. They were taken in the daylight, but I think they came out okay. The right side is filled with dirt patches. The left side is pretty solid grass and is in better condition than it appears in this photo. It's a slight slope to the sidewalk. It's great to see your response.

If you do redo the entire lawn, now would be a good time to rethink all the walking paths. What you have is broken up for some reason and is never going to look nice. I'm sure it looked nice when new, but not anymore.

Also to gardengal's point, you might go with less lawn and put in a ground cover that needs less (or no) water. Here's my reasoning that might apply to you. We're moving to a new house where the front and back lawns are about the size of your entire lot. We also have a giant live oak tree which was struck by lightening and split in half. Afraid it has to go, so our entire front might get a redo. I'm thinking 2/3 of it will be Asiatic jasmine and especially near the front curb. We have a lot of dogs walking, and with jasmine I don't have to worry about any dog problems. One thing he does not mention in the video is the fragrance you get from jasmine in the spring. Incredible! For your size lot I would consider entirely using the jasmine.

But if you want grass, here's how.

Start by watering the grass lightly, 3x per day, for a week. The idea is to sprout all the seeds and weeds in the soil. At the end of the week, spray it all down with RoundUp. Continue watering the same because some seeds take more than a week to sprout. At the end of the second week, spray with RU again to kill anything that might have survived and anything new. After that spray dries, you can remove the dead stuff with a rented mower or sod cutter or whatever. Do not rototill no matter who tells you that you have to. If the surface is not level, then level it by filling low spots and shaving off the high spots. At that point you are ready for sod, plugs, or seed.

If you want to go with jasmine, you can plug right into the existing lawn without doing anything. The jasmine will smother everything underneath. You don't need to deal with leveling for jasmine, because nobody will be walking on it.