I believe the city of Selma needs to start creating events for its residents over the weekend in the near future.

If they don’t, people will continue to spend their Saturdays and Sundays outside the city and county limits.

Montgomery, the state’s capital, is an hour away. Prattville is a 50 minute drive. Tuscaloosa is only 90 miles away.

I’ll confess that I’m one of those residents who frequently leave town for the weekend.

When I’m not working on Saturdays, I often take State Route 219 to U.S. Route 82 and get off in Tuscaloosa.

I have family and friends in Tuscaloosa, but they’d be equally happy to make the short trip into the Queen City.

Several residents I’ve talked to feel the same way as me. They all want a fun environment here away from the weekday grind of work, not having to leave to find a good time.

The local officials understand. Some voiced their views on the subject in a story I co-wrote in last Saturday’s Selma Times-Journal about the 2018 Census numbers.

“We can’t have money going out of Selma,” Selma City Councilwoman Angela Benjamin said at Monday’s City Council Work Session. “We need to be invested in the community.”

Here’s some of my suggestions:

-The movie theatre needs to be open during the week, especially for the summer. I’m one of those folks who goes to the movies during the week.

-We need more restaurant choices. Some residents were disappointed when Bojangles closed after two months. It opened Nov. 3 and closed in January. It wasn’t the county’s fault, just poor management. The Golden Ranch Restaurant was closed from the Fourth of July until Wednesday. I often go there twice a week. My only complaint with them: they’re not open on weekends.

-We need name brand stores. I wrote about this last month, I’m just reminding folks in case they forgot.

Selma is a city with plenty of potential. Unless Selma changes its tune, the migration of residents leaving for the weekend will continue. The city can’t afford it.

James Jones is the news editor of The Selma Times-Journal. He can be reached at james.jones@selmatimesjournal.com.