diff --git a/api/Dockerfile b/api/Dockerfile
index 68006914112..a073e03571a 100644
--- a/api/Dockerfile
+++ b/api/Dockerfile
@@ -101,7 +101,6 @@ COPY --chown=opener . /api/
 # Collect static assets, these are used by the next stage, `nginx`
 RUN env \
   SETUP_ES="False" \
-  STATIC_ROOT="/static" \
   DJANGO_SECRET_KEY="any string" \
   python manage.py collectstatic
 
diff --git a/api/conf/settings/static.py b/api/conf/settings/static.py
index 3c275632292..a04fe955064 100644
--- a/api/conf/settings/static.py
+++ b/api/conf/settings/static.py
@@ -5,6 +5,6 @@
 # https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/howto/static-files/
 
 # Where to collect static files in production/development deployments
-STATIC_ROOT = config("STATIC_ROOT", default="/var/api_static_content/static")
+STATIC_ROOT = config("STATIC_ROOT", default="/static")
 
 STATIC_URL = "static/"
diff --git a/api/conf/urls/__init__.py b/api/conf/urls/__init__.py
index 76e5d5d2bb6..432bc5aa8f9 100644
--- a/api/conf/urls/__init__.py
+++ b/api/conf/urls/__init__.py
@@ -4,7 +4,8 @@
 For more information on this file, see
 https://docs.djangoproject.com/en/4.2/topics/http/urls/
 """
-
+from django.conf import settings
+from django.conf.urls.static import static
 from django.contrib import admin
 from django.urls import include, path
 from django.views.generic import RedirectView
@@ -35,3 +36,6 @@
     path("healthcheck/", HealthCheck.as_view(), name="health"),
     path("v1/", include(versioned_paths)),
 ]
+
+if settings.ENVIRONMENT == "local":
+    urlpatterns += static(settings.STATIC_URL, document_root=settings.STATIC_ROOT)
diff --git a/api/env.docker b/api/env.docker
index fce8ad7f460..c13c36a0401 100644
--- a/api/env.docker
+++ b/api/env.docker
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ DJANGO_SECRET_KEY="ny#b__$$f6ry4wy8oxre97&-68u_0lk3gw(z=d40_dxey3zw0v1"
 DJANGO_DEBUG_ENABLED=True
 
 BASE_URL=http://localhost:50280/
-ENVIRONMENT=development
+ENVIRONMENT=local
 ALLOWED_HOSTS=api.openverse.engineering,api-dev.openverse.engineering,host.docker.internal
 
 REDIS_HOST=cache
diff --git a/docker-compose.yml b/docker-compose.yml
index 709d78a42dc..1c226b6cf40 100644
--- a/docker-compose.yml
+++ b/docker-compose.yml
@@ -234,12 +234,9 @@ services:
     env_file:
       - api/env.docker
       - api/.env
-    environment:
-      STATIC_ROOT: ${STATIC_ROOT:-}
-      MEDIA_ROOT: ${MEDIA_ROOT:-}
     stdin_open: true
     tty: true
-    command: python manage.py runserver 0.0.0.0:8000
+    command: gunicorn --reload -w 1
 
   ingestion_server:
     profiles: