Add devcontainer file

.devcontainer.json

@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+{
+    "image": "docker.io/python:3.11-bookworm",
+    "runArgs": [
+        "--network=host",
+    ],
+    "postStartCommand": "pip install -e '.[dev]'"
+}

.gitignore

@@ -176,5 +176,3 @@ loadenv.sh
 # Spreadsheet data
 spreadsheet_data
 
-# vs code
-.devcontainer.json

README.md

@@ -34,7 +34,19 @@ Firstly, fork this repo.
 > git remote add upstream https://github.com/nycmeshnet/meshdb
 > ```
 
-For safety, create a venv
+#### Dev Container
+
+If you would like to develop in a [Dev Container](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/devcontainers/containers)
+
+1. Make sure you have VS Code installed.
+2. Install the Dev Containers extension: `ms-vscode-remote.remote-containers`
+3. [Open the repo folder in the container](https://code.visualstudio.com/docs/devcontainers/containers#_quick-start-open-an-existing-folder-in-a-container).
+4. In a different shell, outside of VS Code, start the other containers: `docker compose up -d postgres pelias redis` (as below).
+5. Continue on the VS Code terminal (where your project is opened) follow normal developer setup.
+
+#### Host
+
+If you are not using a Dev Container, for safety, create a venv
 
 ```
 python --version # Make sure this is python 3.11.x before continuing
@@ -48,6 +60,8 @@ Then, install dependencies.
 pip install -e '.[dev]'
 ```
 
+### Set Environment Variables
+
 Next, fill out the `.env.sample` file and load it into your environment.
 
 ```