the bank
the bank was the only thing i upgraded in the villa when first presented the opportunity, since it says that it "greatly" adds value. when i later returned i found that some other shops were upgraded, but i didnt do it. i suspect that the bank is responsible, which truly makes it very cost effective.
Interesting.
It is the only thing I've put money into so far on my second playthrough. Next time I'm back in Monteriggioni, I'll check to see if anything was automatically upgraded.
I noticed the same thing as well during my first playthrough. I can't confirm if this is true or not, but it would make sense. The bank would be greatly improved enough to hand out cash loans to the businesses because you dumped so much money into the bank, thus the businesses in town automatically upgrade themselves one level.
Because of this post, I am only upgrading the bank...let's see what happens on this playthrough. I will confirm or deny if this happens for me on this new run.
It didn't do anything for me. I only upgraded the bank during Sequence 3. When I returned to Monteriggioni in Sequence 6, nothing else was upgraded.
Ok, the blacksmith and doctor are upgraded once. Is that because I bought my greaves as part of the Mario quest? (I did not buy meds as I was already full). I upgraded the bank twice when I first came here and I did not notice the blacksmith or doctor upgraded at the time. I logged for a couple days after though. I don't think time has anything to do with it (like it does in Fable II) So there seems to be something going on there Ian.
Were they actually upgraded? As in they acquired a second square on their own? The first square is just to make the places exist; the two subsequent squares are upgrades. Monteriggioni automatically comes with a smith and a doctor (one square each), but nothing else.
aha! that must be whats going on. thx asaic
Monteriggioni automatically comes with a smith and a doctor (one square each)
*facepalm* Good job deciphering the question, Asaic. 
We had a topic on AC-maps about Mafia Wars. I've been meaning to point out that the Monteriggioni shops behave exactly like businesses in Mafia Wars (Cuba and Moscow). They give you one to start, you reinvest the income by opening other businesses and upgrading them, and there's a cap on how much you can accumulate between visits.