I had a homeless stint. I did day labor for money and parked my tent in places where it was legal for me to stay, or where I hadn't been trespassed and wasn't marked, thus it would not be illegal unless someone asked me to leave and I didn't. In many states camping on property isn't illegal unless you've been trespassed, it is posted, or it is gated off etc.

Plenty of homeless people who don't commit crime, you just don't notice them because they aren't bothering anyone.