Colorado Springs has had a huge influx of "homeless people", though mostly homebums, in the last five or so years. It's a very conservative city and most people are quite annoyed with them, and reasonably so, there are homeless camps popping up along highways and trails like crazy and as such litter, uncontrolled fires, and dirty needles have came with them. To the average person here if you look vaguely dirty then they're going to assume the worst, unfortunately.
There's not a lot of places to urban camp here as trails, especially those next to creeks, are checked pretty regularly. If you do find yourself in Colorado Springs though then absolutely stay away from the South East part of town, or as locals call it: Chicago Springs.
