diff --git a/civicfix/settings.py b/civicfix/settings.py
index 9a0fd3e..97d9704 100644
--- a/civicfix/settings.py
+++ b/civicfix/settings.py
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ load_dotenv()
 BASE_DIR = Path(__file__).resolve().parent.parent
 
 # Security
-SECRET_KEY = os.getenv("SECRET_KEY", "unsafe-secret-key")
-DEBUG = os.getenv("DEBUG", "False") == "True"
-ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["*", "civicfix.onrender.com"]
+SECRET_KEY = os.getenv("SECRET_KEY")
+DEBUG = True
+ALLOWED_HOSTS = ["localhost", "127.0.0.1"]
 
 # Installed apps
 INSTALLED_APPS = [
@@ -20,8 +20,6 @@ INSTALLED_APPS = [
     'django.contrib.humanize',
     'django.contrib.sessions',
     'django.contrib.messages',
-    'cloudinary',
-    'cloudinary_storage',
     'django.contrib.staticfiles',
     'whitenoise.runserver_nostatic',
     'core.apps.CoreConfig',
@@ -59,15 +57,15 @@ TEMPLATES = [
 
 WSGI_APPLICATION = 'civicfix.wsgi.application'
 
-# Database (Render Postgres, fallback to SQLite locally)
+# Database (PostgreSQL for Local)
 DATABASES = {
     'default': {
         'ENGINE': 'django.db.backends.postgresql',
-        'NAME': 'civicfix_db',
-        'USER': 'civicfix_user',
-        'PASSWORD': 'Devs@xw2G7vy&',
-        'HOST': 'localhost',
-        'PORT': '5432',
+        'NAME': os.getenv("DB_NAME"),
+        'USER': os.getenv("DB_USER"),
+        'PASSWORD': os.getenv("DB_PASSWORD"),
+        'HOST': os.getenv("DB_HOST"),
+        'PORT': os.getenv("DB_PORT"),
     }
 }
 
@@ -79,6 +77,7 @@ AUTH_PASSWORD_VALIDATORS = [
     {'NAME': 'django.contrib.auth.password_validation.NumericPasswordValidator'},
 ]
 
+
 # Internationalization
 LANGUAGE_CODE = 'en-us'
 TIME_ZONE = 'UTC'
@@ -89,6 +88,8 @@ USE_TZ = True
 STATIC_URL = "/static/"
 STATIC_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "staticfiles"
 STATICFILES_STORAGE = "whitenoise.storage.CompressedManifestStaticFilesStorage"
+MEDIA_URL = "/media/"
+MEDIA_ROOT = BASE_DIR / "media"
 
 # Auth redirects
 LOGIN_REDIRECT_URL = 'citizen_dashboard'