Peter Steinbrueck served just over ten years on the Seattle City Council (1997-2007), including one term as Council President (2002-2003). He was elected at the 1997 general election to fill the remainder of the term of a vacated position and took office nearly two months early. During his tenure on City Council, Steinbrueck chaired the Housing, Human Services, Education and Civil Rights Committee (1998-2001); the Parks, Education, and Library Committee (2002-2003), and the Urban Development and Planning Committee (2004-2007).

In his ten years on the council, Steinbrueck led numerous legislative efforts advancing sustainable practices in areas of public policy, planning, and regulation, including land use and development. He was particularly active in crafting and supporting legislation regarding housing and human services; eradication of homelessness; transportation and urban mobility; parks and open space; historic preservation; water resource management; municipal waste reduction and recycling; and education.

An architect by training, Steinbrueck brought these skills to bear on issues of community design and in the development of public buildings such as Seattle City Hall, the Justice Center, Seattle Central Library and branch libraries. He was instrumental in pushing Seattle’s leadership in green building promotion which helped stimulate Washington's 2005 passage of the nation's first law requiring LEED Silver rating for public buildings.

Steinbrueck was born in 1957 and raised in Seattle. His father was noted architect Victor Steinbrueck (1911-1985) who was a prime mover in the early 1970s initiative to preserve Pike Place Market. Peter Steinbrueck received a Bachelor of Arts degree in Government from Bowdoin College, and a Master of Architecture from the University of Washington College of Built Environments. Prior to his election to City Council, Steinbrueck had a successful architectural practice specializing in residential design.

Steinbrueck is a long-time civic activist. He was one of the leaders of the successful Citizens Alternative Plan initiative campaign to manage growth in downtown Seattle, and he is a co-founder of 1000 Friends of Washington, a group dedicated to reducing urban sprawl and preserving the region's natural resources.

Following his tenure on City Council, Steinbrueck established the firm Steinbrueck Urban Strategies, LLC, providing strategic planning advice to public, institutional, and private sector clients interested in advancing system-wide approaches to sustainability and master planning. He is visiting lecturer at the University of Washington’s College of the Built Environment.

In 2009 Steinbrueck was named a Loeb Fellow in the Graduate School of Design at Harvard University, where from 2009 to 2010 he completed an academic year of independent research focused on the environment, climate change and urban sustainability in the United States.