diff --git a/build/phing/build.yml b/build/phing/build.yml
index 94e1f9852..a36aaf477 100644
--- a/build/phing/build.yml
+++ b/build/phing/build.yml
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 bolt:
-  new.dir: ${bolt.root}/../${project.acquia_subname}
+  new.dir: ${bolt.root}/../${project.machine_name}
diff --git a/template/build/core/phing/tasks/properties.xml b/template/build/core/phing/tasks/properties.xml
index 7699ee5d6..158606e0f 100644
--- a/template/build/core/phing/tasks/properties.xml
+++ b/template/build/core/phing/tasks/properties.xml
@@ -19,12 +19,4 @@
 
   <!-- Extracts value of $options['uri'] and outputs to local_url property in Phing. -->
   <phpVariable file="${repo.root}/drush/drushrc.php" variable="options[uri]" outputProperty="local_url" />
-  <!-- Extracts values from the $databases array and outputs to db.* properties. -->
-  <phpVariable file="${local.settings.file}" variable="databases[default][default][database]" outputProperty="db.database" />
-  <phpVariable file="${local.settings.file}" variable="databases[default][default][username]" outputProperty="db.username" />
-  <phpVariable file="${local.settings.file}" variable="databases[default][default][password]" outputProperty="db.password" />
-  <phpVariable file="${local.settings.file}" variable="databases[default][default][host]" outputProperty="db.host" />
-  <phpVariable file="${local.settings.file}" variable="databases[default][default][port]" outputProperty="db.port" />
-
-  <echo>Using "${db.database}" database</echo>
 </project>
diff --git a/template/composer.json b/template/composer.json
index 5670e01c3..5f4a110fd 100644
--- a/template/composer.json
+++ b/template/composer.json
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 {
-  "name":    "acquia/${project.acquia_subname}",
+  "name":    "acquia/${project.machine_name}",
   "license": "proprietary",
   "type":    "project",
   "repositories": [
diff --git a/template/docroot/sites/default/settings.php b/template/docroot/sites/default/settings.php
index 4fbfc3dfd..4cf7fe41f 100755
--- a/template/docroot/sites/default/settings.php
+++ b/template/docroot/sites/default/settings.php
@@ -732,6 +732,11 @@
  *
  * Keep this code block at the end of this file to take full effect.
  */
-if ($is_local_env && file_exists(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/sites/default/settings/local.settings.php')) {
-  require DRUPAL_ROOT . '/sites/default/settings/local.settings.php';
+if ($is_local_env) {
+  if (isset($_SERVER['DEVDESKTOP_DRUPAL_SETTINGS_DIR']) && file_exists($_SERVER['DEVDESKTOP_DRUPAL_SETTINGS_DIR'] . '/loc_${project.machine_name}_dd.inc')) {
+    require $_SERVER['DEVDESKTOP_DRUPAL_SETTINGS_DIR'] . '/loc_${project.machine_name}_dd.inc';
+  }
+  elseif (file_exists(DRUPAL_ROOT . '/sites/default/settings/local.settings.php')) {
+    require DRUPAL_ROOT . '/sites/default/settings/local.settings.php';
+  }
 }
diff --git a/template/project.yml b/template/project.yml
index 21c1d908a..283c069c8 100644
--- a/template/project.yml
+++ b/template/project.yml
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 project:
-  # The acquia_subname value is the machine name of your Github repository.
-  # This will determine the the directory name of the new repository.
-  acquia_subname: 'bolted8'
+  # Everyone: This will determine the the directory name of the new repository.
+  # Dev Desktop users: this should match your local site name.
+  machine_name: 'bolted8'
   # Used for enforcing correct git commit msg syntax.
   prefix: 'BLT'
   human_name: 'Bolted 8'
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ git:
 drush:
   aliases:
     # The remote environment from which the database will be pulled.
-    remote: ${acquia_subname}.test
+    remote: ${machine_name}.test
     # The local environment against which all local drush commands are run.
     local: self
 
diff --git a/template/readme/local-development.md b/template/readme/local-development.md
index fafc831d1..7ef9a8167 100644
--- a/template/readme/local-development.md
+++ b/template/readme/local-development.md
@@ -30,21 +30,21 @@ To use Drupal VM with a Drupal project that is generated with Bolt, first place
 To make sure Drush commands work correctly with Drupal VM, inside the new project's `build/custom/phing/build.yml` file, override the `docroot` used for Drush commands with the value:
 
     drush:
-      root: /var/www/[project_acquia_subname]/docroot
+      root: /var/www/[project_machine_name]/docroot
 
 Then follow the Quick Start Guide in [Drupal VM's README](https://github.com/geerlingguy/drupal-vm#quick-start-guide), but before you run  `vagrant up`, make the following changes to your VM
 `config.yml` file:
 
     # Update the hostname to the local development environment hostname.
     vagrant_hostname: [project_local_domain]
-    vagrant_machine_name: [project_acquia_subname]
+    vagrant_machine_name: [project_machine_name]
 
     # Provide the path to the project root to Vagrant.
     vagrant_synced_folders:
       # Set the local_path for the first synced folder to `../`.
       - local_path: ../
         # Set the destination to the Acquia Cloud subscription machine name.
-        destination: /var/www/[project_acquia_subname]
+        destination: /var/www/[project_machine_name]
         type: nfs
 
     # Set this to `7` for a Drupal 7 site, or `8` for a Drupal 8 site.
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ Then follow the Quick Start Guide in [Drupal VM's README](https://github.com/gee
 
     # Set drupal_core_path to the `destination` in the synced folder
     # configuration above, plus `/docroot`.
-    drupal_core_path: /var/www/[project_acquia_subname]/docroot
+    drupal_core_path: /var/www/[project_machine_name]/docroot
 
     # Set drupal_domain to the same thing as the `vagrant_hostname` above.
     drupal_domain: [project_local_domain]
@@ -86,6 +86,19 @@ Once you've made these changes and completed the steps in Drupal VM's Quick Star
 
 Add a new site in Dev Desktop by selecting _Import local Drupal site_. Point it at the `docroot` folder inside your new code base. Your `/sites/default/settings.php` file will be modified automatically to include the Dev Desktop database connection information.
 
+### Drush support
+
+In order to use a custom version of Drush with Dev Desktop, you must add the
+following lines to ~/.bash_profile:
+
+```
+export PATH="/Applications/DevDesktop/mysql/bin:$PATH"
+export DEVDESKTOP_DRUPAL_SETTINGS_DIR="$HOME/.acquia/DevDesktop/DrupalSettings"
+
+```
+
+Restart your terminal session after adding these lines.
+
 ## Alternative local development environments
 
 For reasons, some teams may prefer to use a different development environment. Drupal VM offers a great deal of flexibility and a uniform configuration for everyone, but sometimes a tool like Acquia Dev Desktop, MAMP/XAMPP, or a different environment (e.g. a bespoke Docker-based dev environment) may be preferable.
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/BoltTest.php b/tests/phpunit/BoltTest.php
index 6f8fbec3b..6c4131c3c 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/BoltTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/BoltTest.php
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ public function __construct() {
 
     $this->projectDirectory = realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/../../');
     $this->config = Yaml::parse(file_get_contents("{$this->projectDirectory}/project.yml"));
-    $this->new_project_dir = dirname($this->projectDirectory) . '/' . $this->config['project']['acquia_subname'];
+    $this->new_project_dir = dirname($this->projectDirectory) . '/' . $this->config['project']['machine_name'];
   }
 
   /**
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ public function testBoltCreate() {
       );
     $this->assertFileNotExists($this->new_project_dir . '/build/tasks/bolt.xml');
     $this->assertNotContains(
-          '${project.acquia_subname}',
+          '${project.machine_name}',
           file_get_contents($this->new_project_dir . '/docroot/sites/default/settings.php')
       );
     $this->assertNotContains(
diff --git a/tests/phpunit/DeployTest.php b/tests/phpunit/DeployTest.php
index b7f83aacd..bf9390a4a 100644
--- a/tests/phpunit/DeployTest.php
+++ b/tests/phpunit/DeployTest.php
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ public function __construct() {
 
     $this->projectDirectory = realpath(dirname(__FILE__) . '/../../');
     $this->config = Yaml::parse(file_get_contents("{$this->projectDirectory}/project.yml"));
-    $this->new_project_dir = dirname($this->projectDirectory) . '/' . $this->config['project']['acquia_subname'];
+    $this->new_project_dir = dirname($this->projectDirectory) . '/' . $this->config['project']['machine_name'];
     $this->deploy_dir = $this->new_project_dir . '/deploy';
   }