What's wrong with the buffalo grass at Royal Lane and Inwood Ave in Dallas? That lot has long been what convinced my husband we could use buffalo grass when our new home is done, but now it has some bare spots and large browned out areas... Any ideas? It's only May and we have had rain.
And very strangely, the best looking part of the lawn is up near the house, well shaded by trees, and I thought you couldn't have buffalo grass in shade?
And does anyone happen to know if these people have had to do much weeding in this lawn, because it has always been pretty much weed-free. I've been wondering that about the buffalo grass.

I'm sorry I cannot address what's wrong with the Grass you described. I can tell you some about weeding. I have over an 1/2 acre I planted from sod in fall of 2002. The grass is looking great. There were some weeds first year but I applied Corn Gluten Meal not for the fertilizer but for weed control and weeds are much better to the point I don't worry about them anymore. I mow 3-4 times a year and never water. This Grass has done everything I wished for, looks great, no watering, low maintenance. If you like I can send you some pictures.

Buffalo grass does need full sun, but not necessarily from dawn to dusk. If the building casts a shadow on the lawn for only a few hours a day, buffalo grass can still work.

It's hard to guess as to what might have happened to someone else's lawn, but I would entertain the possibility that someone applied weed killer or used some other chemical improperly, or even that the roots of the buffalo grass have just reached some unpleasantness left over from construction, since that is a fairly new property.